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Also in This Issue
A Year in Scotland for Award Winners
sumftier/falj 2004
Passing the Torch
to lain Torrance
Princeton Seminary Calls
a New President
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1. President Gillespie shares a moment with Elisabeth Ziemer, Ph.D.,
the last graduate to whom he gave a degree during his presidency.
2. Ph.D. graduate and new PTS assistant professor of Old Testament
Eunny Patricia Lee with her father and President Gillespie
3. Barbara Chaapel, director of communications/publications, with
David Watermulder, trustee emeritus. Chaapel was the first woman
minister on staff of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in suburban
Philadelphia, when Watermulder was its pastor.
4. Professor Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts with the mace, at his final
graduation before retirement
5. M.Div. graduate Chris Currie and his father, the dean of Union
Theological Seminary's Charlotte campus
6. Th.M. graduate Glenn Chestnutt (back row, left) and M.A./M.Div.
graduate Blair Bertrand (back row, right) with family and their twin
spouses, Vivian and Hannah (front row, left and right)
7. Scottish D.Min. graduates (left to right) William Martin Fair, Jared
Woods Hay, Gordon Angus McCracken, and George James Whyte, with
Professor Geddes Hanson (far left) and Dr. Stephen Crocco (far right)
8. Professors (left to right) Dan Migliore, Max Stackhouse, Robert
Lanchester, and James Charlesworth
9. Ph.D. graduate Kristin Saldine, Princeton Seminary's minister of the
chapel, with her advisor. Professor Charles Bartow
JinSpire
i Princeton Theological m Seminary
Summer/Fall 2004
Barbara A. Chaapel
Kathleen Whalen
Editorial Assistants
Wesley H. Goldsberry
Andrea Rodgers
Communications Assistant
Michelle Roemer Schoen
Staff Photographer
Joshua Sutherlun
inspire is a magazine
for alumni/ae and friends
of Princeton Theological
Seminary. It is published
three times a year by
the Princeton Theological
Seminary Office
of Communications/
Publications, PO. Box 821
Princeton, NJ 08542-0803.
Telephone: 609-497-77
Fax: 609-430-1860
Email: inspire@ptsem.edu
Web site:
www.ptsem.edu/read/inspire/
The magazine has a circulation
of approximately 23,000 and
is printed by George H.
Buchanan Co. in Bridgeport,
NJ. Reproduction in whole
or in part without permission
is prohibited. Nonprofit postage
paid at Bridgeport, NJ.
All the views expressed in
inSpire may not necessarily
represent those of Princeton
Theological Seminary.
On the Cover
With the future of the Christian
church worldwide and its ministry
of utmost importance, President
Torrance brings to Princeton
Seminary an eclectic repertoire
of experiences and commitments—
in theology, ecclesiology, cultures,
the arts, and technology.
■ -
Check us out online!
And send our web address to friends, parish¬
ioners, and those you love. inSpire is online
at www.ptsem.edu/read/inspire.htm.
Features
in this issue
12 • Aberdeen's Dean Becomes Princeton's
President: Princeton Seminary Welcomes
lain Torrance
lainTorrance is a churchman, a pastor, a schol¬
ar, and a Scot. He looks forward to beginning
to get to know and to lead the Seminary com¬
munity, on campus and worldwide.
by Barbara A. Chaapel
16 • The Life of a Biblical Scholar:
Jim Roberts Makes a Full-Court Press
on the Texts of Faith
After a quarter century on the Princeton faculty,
Jim Roberts looks forward to continuing
research and writing on the texts of Scripture
in his native Texas.
by Leslie Dobbs-Allsopp
18 • From Steam Lines to Snowplows:
David Poinsett Retires as Princeton's
Steward of Structures and Spaces
David Poinsett joined the Seminary staff as
director of housing, was promoted to director
of facilities, and spent 23 years caring for the
campus he came to love.
by Barbara A. Chaapel
LIBRARY OF PRINCETON
I
SEP 2 2 2004
theological seminary
Departments
2 • Letters
4 • inSpire interactive
6 • On & Off Campus
20 • Outstanding in the Field
23 • Class Notes
33 • Investing in Ministry
36 • In Memoriam
37 • End Things
inSpire • 1
Photo: Antonia Reeve
summer/fall 2004
from the
president's desk
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
It is the 6th of July as I write this, and I am heading eastward, back to Scotland, having
attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and spent six days at
Princeton. The speed of assumption of office after appointment means that as yet I do not
have a visa. Alter a year of semi-separation from my wife, Morag, while as moderator of the
Church of Scotland’s General Assembly I worked out of Edinburgh and she retained her posi¬
tion in Aberdeen, we are returning to Scotland to sell our house, to buy one in Edinburgh for
our children, and to spend a little time together before the visa arrives.
Attendance at the General Assembly in Richmond and initial days meeting colleagues in
Princeton have eased the transition. I hadn’t been in Princeton since 1959. That year as a fami¬
ly, we spent four months on campus. My father, Thomas F. Torrance, was working on the type¬
script that subsequently became his book Theological Science. We spent a memorable and immensely happy four months on
campus, living in Tennant Flail. I was ten years old and entranced, as children are, by the fireflies.
To return as president is entirely unexpected and seems almost miraculous. It is a position I did not seek, but which,
once approached and sifted, I believed to be God’s calling to me. My background is that I come to Princeton from having
been the dean ol the Faculty of Arts in a full-spectrum university. But as a former moderator of the General Assembly, I am
also someone completely committed to upholding the perspective ol the church. When I was approached by the Search
Committee, inevitably, and in many ways reluctantly, I asked myself where was my life going, and what had God sought to
prepare me for.
God willing, I will commit the rest of my working life to the Seminary. The learning curve lor anyone coming to
Princeton would be steep, but I believe that Aberdeen gave me as much preparation academically and administratively as
any prior institution could. I am learning the complexities of American Presbyterianism. While eager to contribute, I am
loath to be immediately typecast. A number of closely related arguments claim the attention of Christians today. My hope
is that coming from outside I may bring a slightly different perspective to them.
I believe the world changed after 9/11. I believe it took us a decade to absorb the assassination of President Kennedy;
9/1 1 will take longer and will remain as a dreadful kind of turning point. How to respond to this in a way that is construc¬
tive, healing, and wise is one of our challenges. I believe that, at this juncture, Princeton Theological Seminary, the heir
now to the faithful stewardship ol a remarkable series of presidents and trustees, has a pivotal role. This role is not to be a
bulwark for anything, but to be a place that is committed, but not defensive; inspiring, while recognizing that we are
agents, not victims, at a time of change. As a faith-based community, we have a capacity to be both passionate and hos¬
pitable, a capacity that the divinity schools may lack. It is this belief that has brought me here.
The world has changed fundamentally in other ways, too. The Reformation would not have taken place without the
printing press and the translation of Bible into the vernacular. The phenomenon of the internet is a revolution the scale of
which we are only beginning to glimpse. It has potential for great harm, as we now know. Its capacity to broadcast lends
itself to the display of intimidating and theatrical acts of violence. Dreadful though this is, it is attention-seeking behavior
and points to a deeper hunger. Let us listen.
I he internet has many capacities for good. It will change the way we learn, write, refer, teach, and communicate.
Reformed people better than most are attuned to the nature ol the real, but spiritual, presence of Christ that we encounter
at communion. A virtual but real communion with the worldwide church will both contextualize our local divisions, and
enable us to share the unsurpassed library and scholarly resources that the Seminary possesses. This is part of the hope that
brought me here.
Faithfully yours,
Iain R. Torrance
2 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
A Letters
Memories Revived
This afternoon after
watching the emotional
dedication of the World
War II Memorial in
Washington, D.C., I
decided to clear off my
desk. Almost tossing the
spring 2004 issue of
inSpire into the wastebas¬
ket, I noticed the subtitle
on the cover. I settled
down in my recliner and
spent the afternoon read¬
ing this issue from “kiver to kiver!" —
“Celebrating our Filth President,
Thomas W. Gillespie!"
What memories returned to mind!
I entered Princeton Theological
Seminary the fall oi 1954 and graduat¬
ed a member of the Class of 1957.
That fall I was ordained in the Synod
of Texas. Fourteen years later I demit-
ted the ministry. Why? Reasons too
deep to enumerate and too complicat¬
ed to elaborate lead me to refrain from
answering. However, I dropped out ol
the church for about 20 years. Then I
decided to no longer be a renegade. I
rejoined the Presbyterian Church as a
member. Later I became an elder and
served a number of terms in various
churches in Texas.
Now, retired in Clifton, Texas, I
am an active member in the small First
Presbyterian Church.
This issue, so full of letters and
great articles, rekindled my interest in
the Seminary’s purpose and program.
With appreciation, I am,
Norm Taylor (’57B)
Clifton, Texas
Gratitude for Gillespie Tribute
May I begin by congratulating you
on the excellence of your most recent
issue of inSpire [spring 2004], celebrat¬
ing President Gillespie. Most of us
despaired about whether Dr. McCord
could compare with Dr. Mackay, and
he exceeded him. Then we wondered
if Dr. Gillespie could rise to the level
of McCord,
and he has
gone on
beyond him
from strength
to strength,
taking the
Seminary
to greater new
heights than
we could have
hoped. The
idea, content,
layout, and aes¬
thetics of the issue are simply superb.
Thank you.
Jay Harold Ellens (’65M)
Farmington, Michigan
A Very Special Year
I was drawn to the short article,
“A Victorian Splendor — Faculty House
on Tour," on page eight of the spring
2003 issue of inSpire. Back in
September of 1969 I got a call from
Jim Andrews asking if I might wish to
take up an opportunity, at no cost, to
move in with an elderly couple, the
Greenbaums, living next to the
Seminary campus at 104 Mercer
Street. They wanted a student to live
with them for the academic year as
Edward Greenbaum was in failing
health and the presence of someone
else in the home would give them an
added sense of security.
I took Andrews up on the offer
and experienced a most fascinating
year. Edward Greenbaum had had an
illustrious legal career as a senior part¬
ner in a New York City law firm. He
had served as a trustee of The Institute
for Advanced Studies and had been a
close friend of Albert Einstein, who
had lived at 1 12 Mercer Street. There
were many visits from well-known and
famous personalities.
It was on the recommendation of
George Kennan, former secretary of
state and another good friend, that the
State Department had asked Mr.
Greenbaum to handle the legal matters
Please write— we love to hear from you!
We welcome correspondence from our
readers. Letters should be addressed to:
Editor, inSpire
Office of Communications/Publications
PrincetonTheological Seminary
PO. Box 821
Princeton, NJ 08542-0803
email: inspire@ptsem.edu
Letters may be edited for length or clarity,
and should include the writer's name,
address, and telephone number.
related to the journey of Svetlana
Alliluyeva, Stalin’s daughter, from
Geneva to the United States. While
she had her own home in Princeton,
where the Greenbaums had encour¬
aged her to settle, she had been a regu¬
lar visitor to 104 Mercer.
The Greenbaums were a wonderful
couple with whom I struck up a warm
and lasting friendship. While Edward
Greenbaum died the following sum¬
mer, the arrangement had proved so
satisfactory that Dorothea Greenbaum
continued to take in Seminary stu¬
dents for years afterward. It was under
Dr. McCord’s stewardship that Mrs.
Greenbaum agreed that 104 Mercer be
sold to the Seminary upon her death.
Cameron Bigelow (’69B, TOM)
Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
Learning from Ed Dowey
I have special memories of Edward
A. Dowey, recalled by Charles West’s
essay in the winter 2004 issue of
inSpire. It was my privilege to be
acquainted with Dr. Dowey before I
became a student at Princeton
Theological Seminary.
At Princeton, I experienced him as
a scholar, but also as a teacher. I
learned much from him outside the
classroom. It was informative how he
expressed concerns with others and not
just about others. After my ordination,
I served with him on the then
Candidates Committee of my pres¬
bytery. It was a continuing education
experience as he shared guidance for
future ministers. It was good to know
Ed Dowey.
Bernadine Grant McRipley (’82B,
’86m)
Levittown, Pennsylvania
inSpire • 3
summer/fall 2004
inSpire
In this issue's inSpire Interactive, we are pleased to offer alumni/ae the opportunity to welcome Dr. Torrance as the new president, and to
share with him some of their thoughts about Princeton Seminary.
What would you like to tell President Torrance about Princeton Seminary?
Princeton Seminary is a place I have
held dear in my heart all these 50
years since I was a student there. Dr.
Mackay's goal for community was a
reality, and it sustained and nurtured
me. Twenty years later when it became
possible for me to be ordained, I real¬
ized the seed was planted at Princeton.
Continue to nurture the community
asTom and Barbara Gillespie also did.
May God bless you as you lead in this
global ministry.
Betty Kurtz Hamilton (e, 1956)
Sonoma, California
Congratulations on your new calling
as president of Princeton Seminary. As
a retired pastor now serving in an inter¬
im position, I believe the one thing that
our Presbyterian Church (USA) needs is
more help in learning how to deal effec¬
tively with diversity. As one who truly
believes in Paul's image of the church
as the "Body of Christ" with all that
implies for the rich diversity of its mem¬
bers, I am discouraged when looking at
the lobbying efforts of our church (both
left and right) to get their own way
rather than concerted efforts to work at
reconciliation and a positive emphasis
on the strength of our diversity.
I hope Princeton can help a new
breed of graduates who have a passion¬
ate desire to be more centrist in their
theological posture and intentional
about their efforts to "bind the body
back together" rather than fracture it
further. With all my prayers for your
future leadership.
Harlan Gilliland, (M.Div., 1962)
Longview, Washington
3
As a professor of mathematics,
I appreciate academic studies. But also
as a pastor of a congregational church
in Connecticut, I have heard many of
my local colleagues say that they felt
ill-prepared for the practice of ministry,
when they graduated from their large
New England divinity schools. The
strength of the Masters of Divinity
program at Princeton Seminary lies
in its dedication to the practical needs
of the local pastor as preacher, cele¬
brant, and counselor.
I know that you also are bringing this
dedication to your tenure as our new
president. Thank you, and welcome.
Bruce Hedman, (M.Div., 1980)
Mansfield Center, Connecticut
13
Both ecumenical and Reformed,
embracing both the evangel and the
intellect, Princeton Seminary is provi¬
dentially positioned with its resources
of faculty, library, and staff to be a min¬
ister of the living Word within a world
beset by fear of terror. It incarnates the
indispensable relevance of the appar¬
ently irrelevant. As such, the mission of
Princeton Seminary during this century
may focus on recalling the church to
explore and live out the social and eco¬
nomic details of God's covenant com¬
munity, both as a reality itself and as
humble yeast for turning individualistic
capitalistic American culture toward a
more humane direction.
John G. Gibbs, (Ph.D., 1966)
Park Rapids, Minnesota
13
PrincetonTheological Seminary is
truly a family of theologians from vari¬
ous creeds, nations, races, and reli¬
gions, and one that looks out for its
own. Administrators and students have
a special relationship that goes far
beyond the ordinary, and this bond can
be felt by anyone entering the campus.
Courses are sometimes tough; how¬
ever, everyone succeeds because each
one helps the other. Much of this, in my
opinion, can only be attributed to the
very fine leadership of the school,
which we trust will always continue.
Berlinda A. Love, (M.Div., 1992)
Trenton, New Jersey
As one who came to a life-changing
and personal faith in Jesus Christ dur¬
ing my years at Princeton Seminary,
the tumultuous late '60s and early
'70s, my prayer is that the Lord will
endue you with courage to lead that
great institution to be renewed with
the vitality of historic biblical orthodoxy
while retaining its desire to be conver¬
sant with contemporary culture.
Mike Barbera, (M.Div., 1972)
Pass Christian, Mississippi
3
Welcome to Princeton Seminary,
President Torrance. May you enjoy
years of happy service and grace-filled
leadership. I believe that when its best,
Princeton Seminary has belonged to no
faction of the church. It has been a
place where believers of many kinds
can be both heard and challenged in
the name of Christ — liberals, post-liber¬
als, conservative evangelicals, post-con¬
servative evangelicals, old line and new
line charismatics, and good mainstream
church folk alike. Let PTS be that for the
church, and so let it be a partner in our
healing during these times. God's
strength, wisdom, and peace to you.
Wesley Avram, (M.Div., 1984)
New Haven, Connecticut
Princeton can be a very pretentious
place, and it doesn't take much for
a seminary student or faculty member
to "take on airs." My first year of
theological training was at Harvard
University Divinity School, and coming
to PrincetonTheological Seminary after
an internship in a small church in
Kansas was a dip in the road (for me).
I was taken somewhat aback that some
were "puffed up" with themselves and
with their location. How can this cultur¬
al sophistication be overcome when the
world needs accurate communicators
of the Word of God, real men and
women of the Gospel?
John B. Jaymes, (M.R.E., 1962)
LaBelle, Florida
4 * inSpire
summer/fall 2004
inSpire interactive
3
I'd like to remind Dr. Torrance that
Princeton Seminary is much more than
the present faculty, staff, and student
body, distinguished as they may be.
Princeton Seminary is a whole "cloud
of witnesses" to the way, the truth, and
the life that is Jesus Christ out at work
in the world. That includes Pittsburgh!
Vance W. "Trip" Torbert III, (M.Div., 1987)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3
The U.S. Navy, including the chaplain
corps, is dramatically revising its
approach to education. Key questions
required to fund education now are pre¬
ceded by a "job task analysis" that
identifies what a chaplain must know to
serve effectively in a particular ministry.
"Just in time" rather than "just in case"
training is key. Integrated approaches of
classroom, web-based, and hands-on
learning produce a prepared chaplain.
Princeton Seminary has much to
learn from this type of approach. It is
the future. What Princeton teaches must
align with what new pastors and receiv¬
ing churches need. Hard data must pre¬
cede both tradition and anecdote to
determine requirements. Princeton
Seminary is positioned to lead. Will it?
Bob Phillips, (Th.M. 1975, D.Min. 1988)
Norfolk, Virginia
13
In short, Princeton Seminary
has a responsibility to encourage
not only confessional faith, but also
questing faith.
Heraclitus was right that all is flux,
and his genie has escaped the cultural
bottle in our age. Amid competing
worldviews and ideologies, Princeton
Seminary needs to rise above reac¬
tionary apologetics and stimulate
radical openness to truth and radical
outwardness toward a broken world.
If the Seminary does that, it will
participate in the reconciling activity
of God in Christ. But only through the
grace of God will it be afforded both the
challenges to seek, and the support
needed to do so.
Bill LeMosy (M.Div, 1969, M.A., 1971)
Pleasant Hill, Iowa
13
I hope PresidentTorrance will keep in
mind the complete diversity of the
PrincetonTheological Seminary alum-
ni/ae community — especially those
whose calling has taken them to voca¬
tional settings beyond the church. Many
who pass through Princeton end up in
vocational endeavors outside the tradi¬
tional ministry. Historically these have
been the forgotten alumni/ae, with pre¬
cious little attention paid to their gifts,
talents, and assets. I would ask of
PresidentTorrance that some special
attention be dedicated to this "diaspo¬
ra" community, perhaps a "silent
majority" of alumni/ae for whom our
seminary experience was a significant
factor in our life's direction, but who are
not affiliated with the traditional min¬
istries that Princeton Seminary focuses
its energies upon.
I believe that this is a sizeable com¬
munity. I believe that we quietly hunger
for a viable connection between our
seminary experience and our current
lives. And I believe that we have a sig¬
nificant potential for all manner of con¬
tribution to the life and future of PTS.
Rick Nyberg (M.Div., 1976)
Newport Beach, California
3
I am very grateful for the education
I received in my years at Princeton
Seminary. But, like a two-edged sword,
some of Princeton's strengths run paral¬
lel to significant weaknesses.
Princeton does a superb job of acade¬
mic training, invaluable to those going
on to doctoral work; but there are too
few courses (and too little room in a
student's schedule for courses) that
deal with practical issues of church life,
administration, and pastoral care, all
vital to the small churches so typical in
the PCUSA.
Princeton is well aware of the gifts
and strengths it has to offer its stu¬
dents; but it often seem unaware of the
gifts and strengths its students could
offer in return, if the Seminary were
willing to be as effective at learning as
it is at teaching.
Princeton has years of strong tradi¬
tion that have laid a firm foundation
in Christ; but it has not kept up with
other seminaries who seem more
prepared to welcome the diverse mix
of second-career, women, racial-ethnic,
and part-time students who are re¬
sponding in increasing numbers to
God's call to ministry.
Princeton has a clear identity and
upholds sound theological positions
and standards; but its overall diversity
(theological, racial, generational, etc.) in
faculty and student body has decreased
at a time when the world's diversity is
increasing, and, at a time when the
denomination is struggling with differ¬
ence within the body, it has often failed
to model the image from 1 Corinthians
12 that the Body of Christ needs all of
its different members to be complete.
Laurel Underwood Brundage
(M.Div., 1996)
Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania
3
World Christianity is shifting to Africa
and Asia, I would like to see more
courses and emphasis on global
Christianity. Also, as seminaries witness
greater enrollment of Asian Americans,
I would like to see courses on Asian
American Christianity, church history,
and experience.
KeyOneYu, (M.Div., 1999)
Edison, New Jersey
inSpire • 5
summer/fall 2004
on&off Campus
i / 7 7
IGive Us a C Chord, and on One...
\w /L
A liturgies scholar/seminary administra-
Itor. A pastor/financial advisor. A pastor/
Isurgeon. A pastor/insurance agent. That
describes the careers of four Princeton
Jalums from the 1950s: Arlo Duba (Class
§ of '55), James Memmott (Class of '55),
/ William McCullough (Class of '56), and
Leonard Roe (Class of '56), respectively.
But when they were PTS students, and
again at the May alumni/ae reunion, they
were better known as tenor, lead tenor,
baritone, and bass — members of a minis-
Iterial barbershop quartet.
Memmott and Duba had sung in quar¬
tets in college, and when they met in their
first year at Princeton they decided to
keep singing and the Parsons Quartet was
born. With classmates from the Seminary
Touring Choir they sang in churches and
| concert venues, including a gig in the
Poconos one summer. "We were the 1950s
version of the Back Street Boys," said
Memmott. In all, 17 men participated, and
seven of those returned to sing for the
quartet's 50th reunion. They refound each
other on the internet.
"Imagine, if you can, seven guys who
hadn't been together for 47 years present¬
ing songs from an ancient repertoire at
the alumni/ae banquet," said Memmott,
the group's organizer. "It was surreal!"
He called the alums gathered for the
| reunion "forgiving and generous" as they
listened to the group harmonize to music
both sacred and secular. A rendition of
"Old MacDonald Had a Farm" with new
words ("Doc Gillespie Had a School")
brought down the house and got two
thumbs up from the retiring "Doc," who
' was in the hall!
The group, some with family members
in tow, spent the weekend together in
Princeton, revisiting old haunts and talk¬
ing about "matters personal, ecclesiasti-
cal, political, and philosophical." They
; performed for friends on Saturday
/.evening in Scheide Hall, when Duba
reprised their first professional number,
f "I Only Have Eyes for You," to serenade
his wife, Doreen. The Dubas celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary in June.
Gillespie and Roberts Honored
as Distinguished Alumni
Dr. Thomas W. Gillespie and Dr. Joseph L.
Roberts were presented Princeton Seminary's
Distinguished Alumnus Awards at the annual
alumni/ae reunion gathering in May. Gillespie,
Class of 1954, retired as Princeton's president at
the end of June. Roberts, Class of 1968 (Th.M.),
is senior pastor of Atlanta's historic Ebenezer
Baptist Church, the church of Drs. Martin Luther
King Sr. and Jr.
Gillespie was honored for his uncommon lead¬
ership of the flagship seminary of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for 21 years, as well as for
his pastoral work in churches in Garden Grove and Burlingame, California. Roberts, who has
pastored Ebenezer for 29 years, was celebrated for championing those marginalized by soci¬
ety, with particular mention of his congregation's program for teenage mothers, food co-op,
and senior daycare center.
Both men were also recognized for their "bold, stimulating preaching," a fitting tribute dur¬
ing a reunion whose theme was "Preaching in the 21st Century." Guy Griffith, president of
the Alumni/ae Association Executive Council, said of Roberts, "Folks won't stay to listen for
29 years unless you know what you're saying and you say it well."
In receiving the award, Roberts expressed gratitude for his year at Princeton, saying, "They
call me a Bapterian! I've brought so much of Calvin to my church."
Gillespie said he was "moved and honored" by the award, given in the year of his retire¬
ment and of his 50th class reunion. He recalled that during his presidency 4,400-plus stu¬
dents have graduated from the Seminary. With more than 60 classmates sitting around him
in the Mackay Dining Room, he waxed nostalgic, noting that his class was the last class to
eat in the Seminary eating clubs. He then led his class in a rousing rendition of one of their
class songs: "I can see her tonight in the old candlelight, the girl I left behind."
Strengthening the Latino/a Church
A record number— 247 — Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking pastors and lay people came
from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to attend the 14th annual Congreguemonos
on the Seminary's campus in May. Founder and program director of Congreguemonos,
Victor Aloyo, the Seminary's director of vocations, translates the experience as "Let Us
Gather." This year was the first time presentations were in Portuguese as well as Spanish.
"My call," Aloyo says, "includes a ministry to equip Hispanic and Latino/a servants of
Christ." Congreguemonos provides an opportunity to enhance attendees' God-given abili¬
ties. It is the central focus of the Hispanic and Latino(a) Leadership Program (HLLP) under
the auspices of the Seminary's Center of Continuing Education.
Presbyterian and Reformed church leaders gathered to hear Dr. Daisy Machado, associate
professor of the history of Christianity and Hispanic church studies at Brite Divinity School.
A Cuban immigrant, Machado is the first Latina Protestant to receive a Ph.D. in theology and
the first to be ordained by the Disciples of Christ.
The focus of Machado's presentation was "the need for the Latino church to assume a
prophetic role to both the Latino community and to the Euro-American culture." By doing
this, she explained, the Latino church will develop congregations/communities of faith that
have distinct characteristics: justice, mercy, and hospitality. According to Machado, "The
Latino church needs to seriously examine what a healthy community of God looks like and
then work toward emulating those characteristics and not necessarily follow the models it
has inherited from the Protestant missionary enterprise of the late 1800s and early 1900s."
She cited three crucial issues with long-term impact on the Hispanic/Latino/a church:
immigration/language, gender equality and inclusion, and Latino Protestant identity.
Valdir Alves dos Reis, pastor of St. Paul Presbyterian Church in Newark, New Jersey, said,
"To participate in the Congreguemonos in Princeton was a great spiritual enrichment and
opened up a very important space for the Portuguese-speaking church." He shares
Machado's concerns about immigration and her vision of a prophetic ministry. "Many peo¬
ple of different nationalities live today in large cities" he said. "The church needs to reach
out with a message that not only speaks to the soul, but also acts with great solidarity in
helping them to find employment and housing."
The three-track, year-round leadership program provides education for a one-year
Certificate in Congregational Leadership, elder training for the three-year commissioned lay
pastor ordination process as outlined in the PCUSA Book of Order, and continuing educa¬
tion in Spanish for ordained ministers.
Joseph L. Roberts
6 • inSpire
Photo: Leigh Photo & Imaging
summer/fall 2004
on&off Campus
Faculty Publications
Kenda Creasy Dean published Practicing PassiomYouth and the Quest for a Passionate
Church (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004).
Darrell Guder is one of the authors of Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional
Faithfulness (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004).
George Hunsinger has edited For the Sake of the World: Karl Barth and the Future of
Ecclesial Theology (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004).
A new, revised edition of Daniel Migliore's Faith Seeking Understanding (Eerdmans
Publishing, 2004) has been published.
Patrick Miller has written The God You Have: Politics and the First Commandment, in
Fortress Press's popular Facets series.
Also in the Facets series is Peter Paris's Virtues and Values:The African and African
American Experience (Fortress Press, 2004).
Peter Paris has also published The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New
York (New York University Press, 2004).
Among those contributing to books edited by others are Patrick Miller, in Having:
Property and Possession in Religious and Social Life (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), and
Diogenes Allen, in From Cells to Souls— and Beyond: Changing Portraits of Human Nature
(Eerdmans Publishing, 2004).
"I want my, I want my, I want my MTV"
In March, Professor Kenda Creasy Dean and
students from her Ph.D. seminar "Practical
Theology, Popular Culture, and Adolescence"
traveled to New York to visit the MTV studios.
According to Dean, associate professor of
youth, church, and culture, "Adolescents'
close ties to media illustrate why it matters to
have a theological lens for understanding
popular culture — but they are not alone." She
believes the church needs "to recognize, scru¬
tinize, and address media, especially in terms
of its power for identify formation."
Using MTV as a case study, Dean's group
was able to test-drive their emerging theological methods. "You really can't study adoles¬
cents or popular culture and avoid MTV," says Dean. "The majority of young people
around the world have seen MTV, and after the family, the media is the most powerful
social institution influencing adolescent identity."
The class met with MTV's vice president of standards and practices, Janet Borelli, a
member of the First Presbyterian Church in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, who showed
the group around the studios and pointed out that MTV's success absolutely depends on
how well it understands teenagers.
The group learned that there is no written code of standards and procedures at MTV.
Decisions about programming content are made in the consciences of the people in stan¬
dards and procedures. And, "protecting the brand" (promoting the network) sometimes
competes with protecting the adolescent viewer or artist.
Borelli spoke of instances in which her staff adapted programming to avoid suicide mes¬
sages in song lyrics, and to promote images of responsible driving.
When asked what advice MTV would give to people preparing to be pastors to young
people, the staff said, "Listen to them. We don't preach to teenagers."
Which is all well and good, but Chip Hardwick, a seminar student, interprets the answer
to mean that MTV "doesn't shake their finger at viewers and shame them for the choices
they make, and they don't tell viewers how to live their lives. This is a very limited view of
preaching." He believes that despite the best efforts of the staff to avoid preaching, "MTV
clearly 'witnesses' about its worldview. You don't have to watch too long to see what MTV
values — good-looking people, sexual freedom, and great wealth. They may not 'preach,'
but they send clear messages to teens about what is important— typically in far more
compelling ways than the church does."
The bottom line? Dean says, "As bad as MTV might seem, morally speaking, without
Borelli and her staff it would be worse." She feels the visit forced her students to think
about whether their own theologies left any room for moral compromises with the cul¬
ture. "Is choosing the lesser of two evils a positive step, or is it 'dancing with the devil?'"
Wentzel van Huyssteen at the Gifford Lectures
ASone in the World?
This question, and its subtext, Science
andTheology on Human Uniqueness,
began the series of six lectures that PTS
professor J. Wentzel van Huyssteen gave in
Edinburgh, Scotland, in late spring. Van
Huyssteen was the distinguished Gifford
Lecturer, the first scholar from Princeton
Seminary ever to be invited to give what is
considered the most prestigious religious
studies lectureship in the world.
His topic explored human origins, human
uniqueness, and the image of God, work
van Huyssteen has been doing for several
years since he saw the dramatic prehistoric
cave paintings in Lascaux, France (see
"Exploring Myth and Meaning" in the
winter 2004 issue of inSpire), and became
interested in the dialogue between theology
and paleoanthropology.
The lectures were held in Edinburgh
University's famed Playfair Library, which
van Huyssteen called "one of the most ele¬
gant halls in the UK." From the window of
his temporary study, he could see the city
of Edinburgh, the Firth of Fourth, and the
Kingdom of Fife spread out before him.
"I was so impressed with the hospitality
of my hosts, the austerity of the occasion,
and the tremendous sense of history in
which the Gifford Lecture Series is embed¬
ded," he said. (The lectureship began in
1895.) He was also pleased that several of
his former students now studying at
Edinburgh attended, and that colleagues
from Princeton (Chip and Leslie Dobbs-
Allsopp and Steven Hamilton) traveled to
Scotland to attend. Hamilton also hosted a
luncheon for 20 Scottish alums and
American alums studying in Scotland.
Van Huyssteen was gratified that new
president lainTorrance made a special effort
to attend the sixth lecture two days after
returning from a moderatorial trip to China.
But what delighted van Huyssteen most
was the presence of his wife, Hester, his
son Henk and daughter Use, who came all
the way from Capetown, and his daughter
Nina and her husband Dale, who traveled
from San Diego to be with their father.
"I felt truly blessed," he said, "for the
unexpected journey this research project
has taken me on."
inSpire • 7
Photo: Antonia Reeve
summer/fall 2004
on&off Campus
News from the Board of Trustees
The Seminary's Board ofTrustees took the
following actions at its May 2004 meeting:
New Trustee Appointments
Michael G. Fisch, president of American
Securities Capital Partners, L.R, lives and
works in New York City. He is a member and
trustee ofThe Brick Presbyterian Church of
New York City.
Joan I. Gotwals, former vice provost
and director of libraries at Emory University
and now retired, lives in Elkins Park, Penn¬
sylvania. She is a member of Abington Pres¬
byterian Church in Abington, Pennsylvania.
Carlos Daniel Ledee, retired school district
administrator for the New York City public
school system, lives in Queens, New York.
He is a member of the First Spanish
Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York.
The Reverend Kathy J. Nelson, who has
three PTS degrees, is pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church in Dayton, New Jersey,
and an alumni/ae trustee.
Faculty Appointment and Promotions
Stephen R Ahearne-Kroll was appointed
as instructor in New Testament for a one-
year term effective July 1.
Jacqueline E. Lapsley, was promoted to
the rank of associate professor of Old
Testament with tenure, effective July 1.
J. Ross Wagner, was promoted to the rank
of associate professor of New Testament
with tenure, effective July 1.
Seminary's Cantate Domino Choir
Featured on Diane Bish CD
Internationally acclaimed musician Diane
Bish has produced an episode for her inter¬
national television series that features her
performance last fall in Miller Chapel. She
was guest organist for the Seminary's Joe
R. Engle Organ Concert. The production
includes the Seminary's Cantate Domino
Choir directed by MartinTel, the C.F.
Seabrook Director of Music. Available on CD
or VHS, Diane Bish and the Joy of Music at
Princeton Theological Seminary features the
choir singing Now Thank We All Our God by
J.S. Bach and A New Song by Diane Bish.
Scenes showcasing the campus provide
a visual backdrop to the 30-minute program
that includes solo organ pieces by Bish.
Known in the musical world as the
"First Lady of the Organ," Bish has per¬
formed in concert on the world's most pres¬
tigious organs. Princeton's Engle Organ,
a three-manual pipe organ, joins an elite
list of instruments that her hands and feet
have graced.
The recording is available from theTBA
for $19 (plus shipping).
McCormack (center) receives honorary doctorate from
the University of Jena.
High Honors for Princeton's Bruce McCormack
In May in the town of Jena in former East Germany, a university established in 1558
bestowed its highest honor— a Dr. theol. h.c. — on Princeton's Bruce L. McCormack.
The history of the University of Jena — whose official name is Friedrich Schiller
Universitat— founded by Lutherans during the Reformation, reads like a who's who of
Europe's greatest thinkers and theologians. Friedrich Schiller, famed as a philosopher
and as poet of the text for Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," held the chair in philosophy at
Jena. His contemporary, Goethe, lived in nearby Weimar, and considered Jena his uni¬
versity. German Romantics Friedrich and August Schlegel and their wives discussed
books and ideas in Jena's drawing rooms. And Jena's medieval walls hold the echoes
of conversations of the three most influential thinkers in the tradition of German ideal¬
ism: Hegel, Fichte, and Schelling, all members of the Jena faculty. Luther himself
preached several times in Jena's Stadtkirche.
So it is was with delight
and deference that
McCormack, Princeton's
Weyerhauser Professor
of SystematicTheology,
traveled with his wife,
Mary, to Germany at the
invitation of Jena's Theology
Faculty to receive the hon¬
orary doctorate — Doctor
ofTheology honoris causa.
"I was utterly stunned,"
says McCormack. "This does¬
n't often happen to academics
of my age." McCormack is 51.
Michael Trowitzsch, who nominated McCormack for the honorary degree, and
McCormack had met at a conference on Karl Barth, the subject of much of McCormack's
scholarship, and the German later heard McCormack speak on Barth's Christology. Late
in 2003, Trowitzsch wrote to McCormack asking for a copy of his curriculum vita. "I sent
it to him without asking any questions," says McCormack, who was surprised when the
phone call came in February with the invitation to Jena.
The McCormacks arrived in Jena inThuringen, known as "the green heart of
Germany" for its lush valleys watered by the river Saale, for a daylong conference cele¬
brating the 70th anniversary of the Barmen Declaration, followed the next day by the
bestowal of the degree.
McCormack describes the ceremony: "The faculty processed into the university Aula
(the assembly hall) and the dean gave the Laudatio, describing the recipient's achieve¬
ments as a scholar. Then I went forward and took an oath in Latin, promising to 'pro¬
claim the gospel unfailingly.' Then they put a robe and a hat on me (they should have
sized the hat first!), and handed me the diploma. There followed an address about
Barth's reception of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant by Michael Beintker, professor
of theology at the University of Munster, and I gave the Dankeswort (a response of
thanks) before we processed out to a reception and then dinner in the Schwarz Bar,
where Luther himself dined." The next day McCormack presented a paper on Barth on
the relationship of theology and science.
More than 100 scholars and friends attended the ceremony, including past and pre¬
sent Princeton students of McCormack's. He was also pleased to receive congratulatory
letters from several scholars who could not attend, including Eberhard Busch and
Eberhard Jungel.
As a degree recipient, McCormack will continue his relationship with Jena. He will
be asked to examine doctoral student dissertations periodically and to serve as a guest
professor of systematic theology sometime in the future. "But we will not do a guest
semester there until our kids are in college," he says.
Jena chose McCormack for this high honor because of his groundbreaking research in
the theology of Barth, and for furthering the cooperation between German and
American theologians. His most significant contribution to Barth studies is his critically
acclaimed Karl Barth's Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development,
1909-1936. In 1998, McCormack was the first American to be awarded the Karl Barth
Prize by the Evangelical Church of the Union in Germany.
Now he has another first, he says, laughing. "They told me I was the first zwei-meter
Mensch (two-meter man) to join their faculty," says the theologian who is certainly the
tallest person on the Princeton faculty!
8 * inSpire
Photo: University of Jena
summer/fall 2004
on&off Campus
Seen at the General Assembly
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA had its now biennial meeting in
Richmond, Virginia, in June, where many Princetonians took significant roles. Here are just a
few in the Princeton family who shone at the Assembly:
Moderator Rick
•Trustee emeritus Henry Luce III was presented
the Award for Excellence inTheological Education
by the Committee onTheological Education. Luce,
the son of Henry R. Luce, the founder and editor-
in-chief ofTime, Inc., was recognized for contribu¬
tions from the Henry Luce Foundation totaling
more than $11 million to Presbyterian seminaries
and other Presbyterian causes.
• Brian Blount, professor of New Testament, gave
an address about the power of responsible prayer
to the Covenant Network at their annual luncheon.
• James Smylie, PTS Class of 1949, was honored
by the Presbyterian Historical Society for his 27
years as editor of the Journal of Presbyterian History at a special reception, where he also
gave a lecture.
• Bill Carter, PTS Class of 1985, and his Presbybop Quartet entertained Assembly-goers
with an evening of jazz. The pianist and his fellow musicians on sax, bass, and drums also
lent their swinging sounds to one of the Assembly worship services.
•Trustee Justin Johnson, an elder commissioner from Pittsburgh Presbytery, chaired the
Assembly Committee on International Issues, which among other business voted to affirm
Taiwan's right to self-determination, while honoring the PCUSA's partnerships with both the
Taiwanese Presbyterian Church and the Chinese Christian Council.
• PTS trustee and alumnus Craig Barnes, pastor of Pittsburgh's Shadyside Presbyterian
Church, was the featured speaker at a luncheon sponsored
>. by the Office of Theology and Worship. He suggested that
g- pastors should "think of themselves as poets."
g1 • PTS alum Jin S. Kim, Class of 1993, was the preacher at
® one of the Assembly's morning worship services and chose
as his topic racism in the Presbyterian Church.
■And finally, though he did not graduate, new GA moder¬
ator Rick Ufford-Chase attended Princeton Seminary for a
semester in 1986 before he discerned that God was calling
him to minister as a layperson, and he went on to help
develop Borderlinks as a volunteer in mission. Princeton is
. . . still proud to call him an alum!
Justin Johnson ^
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Hispanic Theological Initiative News
In July Latino/a scholars from across the coun¬
try and Puerto Rico gathered at Princeton
Seminary for the eighth annual Hispanic
Theological Initiative (HTI) Summer Workshop.
Dr. Michelle Gonzalez, assistant professor of
theological studies at Loyola Marymount
University, lectured on Sor Juana Ines de la
Cruz, a poet nun who was considered a genius
and regarded as one of the greatest figures in
Spanish literature, well ahead of her time.
Gonzalez's lecture, "Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz:
Latin American Church Mother," was responded
to by Dr.Yolanda Martinez-San Miguel, associate
professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The
HTI Book Prize was awarded to Gonzalez for her
book Sor Juana: Beauty and Justice in the Americas (Orbis Books, 2003).
Gonzalez, who is of Cuban heritage, is interested in Latino/a, Latin American, and femi¬
nist theologies, as well as in interdisciplinary work in theological aesthetics.
HTI is partially funded by the Pew CharitableTrusts and by Lilly Endowment Inc.
Housed at Princeton Seminary, it was founded in 1996 to help train religious leaders —
teachers, pastors, and scholars— for the growing Latino/a religious community in the
United States.
Yolanda Martinez-San Miguel (left)
with Michelle Gonzalez, recipient of
the HTI Book Prize.
A Plague of Biblical Proportions?
No, Just the Princeton Visit
of the 17-Year Cicadas!
By July, their loud, droning love songs
had faded, the skies were clear of their
tumbling flights, and their dry, molted
shells were blown away from benches,
bicycle seats, sidewalks, and lawns. The
Brood X cicadas that visited the mid-
Atlantic this summer are gone.
But not before they deposited billions
of eggs in Princeton's trees, eggs that
hatched and fell as tiny white nymphs to
burrow into the ground, where they will
live as underground Princetonians for
the next 17 years.
During May and June, hordes of adult
cicadas with beady red eyes tunneled up
from under the tree roots, shed their
skins, took flight, and began to mate. As
the last act of their short courtship, the
females found the tips of tree branches,
where they gouged out dozens of small
slits in the wood and deposited about
600 eggs apiece.
PTS staff member Susan Pope cap¬
tured Princeton's cicada invasion on film.
Cicadas covered campus
benches, and emerging
nymphs left their shells on
tree trunks.
inSpire • 9
summer/fall 2004
on&off Campus
"Mission" Is Latest Audio Journal
CD Released
"Mission" is the latest volume in the
Cloud of Witnesses audio journal series,
available free of charge by subscription to
youth pastors and others who work with
teenagers. It is produced by the Seminary's
Institute forYouth Ministry (IYM). Institute
codirectors Dayle Gillespie Rounds and
Amy Scott Vaughn are the editors. Joicy
Becker-Richards, director of educational
media, serves as host.
Rounds notes that while this latest vol¬
ume doesn't have a sermon included like
earlier volumes, it has a new feature. Two
teens, Mikaila Gawryn and Alex Knopes,
both members of Mercer Island
Presbyterian Church in Mercer Island,
Washington, provide a diary of their mis¬
sion workshop experience inTijuana,
Mexico ("Diary of a MissionTrip").
"We gave them iPODs to keep a voice
journal while on their trip," Rounds says.
"They gave us hours of tape to edit about
their reflections and activities as their youth
group worked with Homes without
Boundaries. They did a great job."
Others offering insight about mission
include Larry Coulter, pastor of the
Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church
in Austin, Texas ("Developing Compassion
in Youth"); Kent Annan, former associate
editor of inSpire who works for Beyond
Borders in Haiti ("Emptied for Love"),
and Vivian Nix-Early, dean of the Campolo
School for Social Change at Eastern
University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania,
and cofounder of BuildaBridge
International, a faith-based arts education
organization ("Art in Mission").
Cloud of Witnesses provides mainline
Protestant theological reflection in the
broad area of youth ministry. Ecumenical in
spirit, the format brings together scholars,
pastors, lay people, and youth to encourage
and support church leaders in reaching
young people with the gospel. The audio
journal approach is more convenient for the
institute's audience than is the printed word,
says Rounds. "They can listen on their car
CD players — even on their computers.
The CD is a useable form for teaching
because specific tracks can be
used, especially those with teen
voices for other teens to hear."
Other ideas for using the CD, and
bonus audio clips, can be found
on the IYM web site.
Previous titles in the series are:
"Ministry," "Spirituality,"
"Suffering and Hope," "Vocation,"
"Play," and "Story." All can be
heard from the web site. For more
information and/or to subscribe,
visit www.ptsem.edu/iym/ or email
iym@ptsem.edu.
W-4
The placement map in the Office of Student Relations and Senior Placement shows the postgradu¬
ate destinations of the members of the Class of 2004. This popular attraction and yearly tradition
allows students and staff to track the Seminary's newest alums as they respond to God's call.
Researching How People Grow in Faith
The Seminary is the recipient of a $750,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for a
research grant titled Faithful Practices Project (FPP).The 28-month research project is
directed by Richard R. Osmer, professor of Christian education, and Kenda Creasy Dean,
associate professor of youth, church, and culture. Faculty members John W. Stewart and
Gordon Mikoski join Osmer and Dean to serve as FPP's core researchers and steering
committee. Louise Lawson Johnson is the project coordinator.
"The purpose of the project is to help contemporary American congregations practice
their Christian faith in vital ways," says Osmer. FPP has two central foci: congregational
practices and leadership formation. The groundbreaking research study seeks to explore
and redefine the interrelationship of evangelism, formation, and witness in the contem¬
porary American mainline Protestant church, and to explore how such findings might
transform or help shape academic preparation for Christian ministry. The initial stages of
the study design began in March, with empirical research and a faculty seminar to begin
this September.
Ecumenical in scope, the congregational practices portion of the project will incorpo¬
rate four methodologies to learn how people come to faith, grow in faith, and live out
their faith. Quantitative and qualitative research examining congregational practices at
48 churches will be conducted by practical theology Ph.D. candidates.
Twenty pastors and church leaders will be invited by the steering committee to partici¬
pate in a "Best Practices" conference, slated for the fall of 2005, to share their creative
approaches to ministry. "These are the folks doing cutting-edge ministry— they are the
innovators," says Osmer.
The project will also conduct focus groups with the pastors of small churches. "We
want to know what their real problems and struggles are — what challenges they face,
and what signs of vitality they identify," says Osmer.
The first of two empirical researcher conferences will be held in February 2005 and will
include scholars from Duke, Emory, and Vanderbilt Universities, as well as other Lilly
researchers engaged in congregational studies. They will share their findings and work to
build a richer understanding of contemporary American congregations.
The project also focuses on theological education, exploring the ways seminaries and
divinity schools might form and educate leaders equipped to revitalize congregations.
This will take place through a two-year faculty seminar in which 11 Princeton faculty will
meet twice a month to explore the theological, historical, and contextual dimensions of
the religious practices discussion. In year one, special attention will
be given to vital Christian ways of life in America today. In year
two, attention will focus on what it takes to shape communities
that foster vital Christian ways of life. Faculty participants for the
first year of the project are Jacqueline E. Lapsley, associate profes¬
sor of OldTestament; James H. Moorhead, professor of American
church history; W. Stacy Johnson, associate professor of systemat¬
ic theology; Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger, associate professor of
practical theology; Sally A. Brown, assistant professor of preaching
and worship; James F. Kay, professor of homiletics and liturgies;
and Mark L. Taylor, professor of theology and culture, plus the four-
member steering committee.
10 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
on&off Campus
Smile!
Members of Professor Richard K.
Fenn's spring 2004 Ph.D. seminar
on the sociology of religion
posed for a picture holding
signs asking, "Under What
Conditions?"— a fundamental
and frequently asked sociological
question that arose during the
seminar. The photograph was
taken by James H. Charlesworth,
professor of New Testament, who
happened to be passing by.
Rave Reviews for Institute of Theology
Feed Yourself Spiritually was the theme for the
Seminary's 63rd annual Institute ofTheology (I0T)
this summer.The two-week, ecumenical program
incites pastors to Princeton's campus for theological
reflection, renewal, and collegial community. This
summer's institute was a collaborative venture with
the Board of Ministry of the Church of Scotland.
From both longtime and new participants, the
academic experience, the Seminary campus, and
the Christian community that IOT creates received
rave reviews.
John D. Whiteford, pastor of the Newlands South Church in Glasgow, Scotland, has come
twice. "I enjoyed it so much the first time, I came for two weeks this year. It is a gift to reflect
on theology. I find my experience here stimulating — asking questions, thinking and getting
ideas as to how to tackle a situation back in the parish," Whiteford said.
"Ministers constantly give out more than they take in. If you never feed yourself, you have
nothing to give. The IOT is an opportunity to refocus on what is important.
"The sharing of experiences in the States about the cultural differences between Scotland
and the U.S. is just fascinating," he said. "More money is available here for the church. It is
amazing the equipment Princeton has to train ministers. I am very impressed with the seri¬
ousness with which you teach clergy."
Canadian pastor Robert Campbell from Manitoba first attended in 1992 when a friend rec¬
ommended the program. "I was vaguely aware of PTS," he admitted, "but my friend shoved
the brochure in my face and said, 'This is the event for you.' I had nothing else planned and
no particular enthusiasm. But I fell in love with the place! I was a stranger — I knew no one
that first summer. I was taken in and made to feel at home. There is a lot of community
among those who return each summer.
"Coming here is a wonderful way to stay current. I met people here on campus that I have
read in print— like Barbara BrownTaylor and Stanley Flauerwas— and could talk to them
about their books," he explained.
This summer, Campbell preached the Sunday between the two weeks for fellow IOT
veteran Noel Vanek at Vanek's congregation, the Church of the Garden in Queens, New York.
Vanek had previously preached at Westminster United Church in Manitoba for Campbell.
Flarold Doods, a retired United Methodist from Kansas City, Missouri, has been here for
19 consecutive years. In early days, he appreciated the fact that there was one preacher
for each week, who preached the whole week and also gave a workshop on preaching; it's
changed now, but he understands that is to include more diversity.
Doods said he finds all of the programs very stimulating. Key for him, too, is a time for
relaxation and vacation. Fie has come to appreciate the conversation at meals because he
listens and learns a lot.
More than a decade ago Doods met a United Church of Christ pastor, GeorgeTormohlen,
at the institute. He discovered thatTormohlen lived just across the river and state line in
Kansas! They've become good friends and have lunch together regularly. Tormohlen could
not attend this year, but his colleague took tapes back to him.
Since 1965 Roger Lovette of Birmingham, Alabama, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pas¬
tor, has come every summer. Lovette is retired and now serves as interim pastor for Signal
Mountain Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "I came up on the train the first time
and I have been coming back ever since," he said. Lovette puts time for the IOT in all of his
interim contracts. Refreshed by each summer's "think time" at Princeton, Lovette has
returned home and written several books.
"I have brought five Baptist pastors for 20 years. I have a mission to promote this institute
to the Baptists," he said.
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Faculty Accolades
James Charlesworth was in Israel in June
to work with the BBC on a movie documen¬
tary, Jesus' FamilyTree. The film focuses on
Jesus' genealogy and his family.
Charlesworth also spoke at the United
Nations in June at a symposium chaired by
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on con¬
fronting anti-Semitism.
Abigail Rian Evans is a clinical professor
of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson
Medical Center, while simultaneously a full¬
time professor at Princeton— the first such
combination in the history of the Seminary.
Since 2000 she has been a non-paid adjunct
professor at Robert Wood Johnson who
assists in training clinicians in spiritual
assessments and does research on the inter¬
face of spirituality and health for the med¬
ical school.
Evans has piloted a new model for faculty
sabbaticals by being a theologian-in-resi¬
dence at Vienna Presbyterian Church in
Vienna, Virginia. Her hope is that this will
become an option across the country so
seminary professors can better equip future
pastors based on intimate knowledge of the
local church.
In July, Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger
was a speaker at Furman University's annual
Pastors School.
Cleo LaRue delivered the baccalaureate
address at Coe College in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, in May. He was invited by Coe chap¬
lain Kristin Hutson ('00B), who says that
LaRue influenced her life while she was a
student at the Seminary.
In July, LaRue was also a speaker at
Furman University's annual Pastors School.
Seminar on Religion and Poverty
Completes Four- Year Study
The Pan-Africa Seminar on Religion and
Poverty, funded by the Ford Foundation and
headed by PTS professor Peter Paris, held
its final meeting in July in Princeton. Paris
has directed the seminar (see article in the
spring 2003 issue of inSpire) for the past
four years, with meetings in Ghana, Kenya,
South Africa, and Jamaica.
According to Paris, the seminar's purpose
has been to encounter ways poverty is
understood in different contexts around the
world, and how religious groups are
responding to it. While in Princeton, seminar
participants visited churches in NewYork
City and Newark, New Jersey, a mosque in
Harlem, and Sing Sing Prison. Of the 16
seminar scholars, several are Princeton
Seminary alums, including David Mosoma
(South Africa), Takatso Mophokeny (South
Africa), Nyambura Njoroge (Kenya via
Geneva), and Kossi Ayedze (Togo). For more
information about the seminar's findings,
contact Paris at peter.paris@ptsem.edu.
inSpire *11
summer/fall 2004
Aberdeen’s Dean Becomes Princeton’s President
Princeton Seminary Welcomes Iain Torrance
by Barbara A. Chaapel
Just days after Iain Torrance was elected
by Princeton Seminary’s Board of Trustees
and introduced to the faculty and staff on
campus, he was sitting, laptop in hand, in
an internet cubicle in the Amsterdam airport
awaiting a flight to China. The trip would
be his last official visit as moderator of the
Church of Scotland.
Checking his email, he opened one
from Setri Nyomi, the general secretary of
the World Alliance of Reformed Churches,
a Princeton alum from Ghana, and a friend.
The email message congratulated Torrance
on his call as Princeton’s sixth president.
Torrance immediately emailed back, turned
off his computer, and stood to leave the
cubicle. At the same time, a traveler two
cubicles away also closed his laptop and
stood. It was Setri Nyomi!
The anecdote, which Torrance recounts
with a twinkle in his eye, tells a lot about the
man who is Princeton’s new president. He
uses computers with ease and understands
the value of the internet for communication
and connection. He is at home in the world
beyond his native Scotland. He experiences
and embraces a worldwide Christian church.
He calls people from diverse cultures and
nations friends. He works hard and under¬
stands the stewardship of time. And not
least, he has a delightful sense of humor.
It was these and many other characteris¬
tics and experiences that led the board’s
search committee to Torrance. “We didn’t
really know who he was when we received
a letter recommending that we consider
him,’’ says Mary Lee Fitzgerald, cochair
of the committee. “But we contacted him,
interviewed him, a few of us even went
to hear him preach in a small church in
Scotland,” she says. “Among other things,
he preached a children’s sermon that Sunday.
I remember thinking how authentic he was,
what a good listener, what a good teacher
and communicator. I felt closer to him every
time I met him. I think many of us on the
committee felt that way.”
For his part, Iain Torrance says he wasn’t
seeking to leave Aberdeen (where he was
dean of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity); in
fact, after a year as moderator of the Church
of Scotland he looked forward to returning
to teaching and administration in the acade¬
my. What he didn’t realize was that it would
be in Princeton.
“Princeton’s presidency was not some¬
thing I sought,” he says. “It came out of the
blue. When the committee first approached
me, I thought and prayed about it, and
talked with my wife, Morag, and said yes, if
they wanted to consider me, I would be
open. I felt that if I were chosen, or if I were
not chosen, I would accept the decision as
being God's word to me. So, here I am.”
Torrance spent the days just before he
took office on July 1 at the meeting of the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) in Richmond, Virginia. There
he spoke to and was confirmed by the
Assembly, and had his first meeting with
lain R. Torrance
Princeton alums, gathered for the annual
Princeton luncheon. He told them “it was a
slightly peculiar speech to give, as I had not
yet assumed office.”
Beginning his presidency with an address
to the church was consonant with Iain
Torrance’s understanding of his calling as an
academic. He is a church theologian.
Born in Aberdeen and educated at the
University of Edinburgh (M.A.), St. Andrews
University (B.D.), and Oxford University
(D.Phil.), he began ministry in 1982
in a parish church in the Shetland Islands,
200 miles north of the Scottish mainland.
There amid the beauty of sea and sky
and the isolation that comes of islands, i
he pastored the people of five small churches
in Northmavine.
12 • inSpire
Photo: Erin Dunigan
summer/fall 2004
“It was a challenge to lorm community
there,” he says. “In an island community
like that, my wife and I came as outsiders.
Our immediate task was to be trusted. There
was no 'how to' book. The key, I think,
was to be present, to listen, and to provide
pastoral support.
“Such communities are often riven by
tragedy — like deaths in road accidents, and
early cancer deaths. And Shetland has one
of the highest suicide rates in Europe. All
of these lactors bound us to them, and peo¬
ple did accept us.” Torrance says that those
three-and-a-half years in Northmavine
were also important ones in his marriage,
as he and his wife grew to know one
another and shape their relationship.
While in the Shetlands, Torrance
began another kind of pastoring — to the
military community. He became a reservist
chaplain, which took him into the com¬
munity ol the unchurched.
“I found this ministry different from
the parish, and very enjoyable,” he says. “I
learned a lot. Like the importance of confi¬
dentiality. As a chaplain, I was not a part
of the chain of command, and I had to be
a citizen of two worlds: trusted by the mil¬
itary, yet also an agent of Christ’s church.
The community we formed, those serving
in the military and their chaplains, was
strong. I baptized babies, conducted wed¬
dings and funerals.”
Torrance stayed on as a reservist
chaplain after he left the Shetlands
for Birmingham, England, to teach, first
at Queen’s College, and then at the
University of Birmingham. He volunteered
to go to the first Gulf War, but the land
war ended before he could deploy. He was
later appointed convener of the Church
of Scotland’s committee on chaplaincy.
Visiting troops in Bosnia just before that
war ended, Torrance came to understand
what he calls a theology of presence. “If you
are expecting soldiers to uncover mass graves,
as we did in Bosnia, it is good if there is a
chaplain for them to talk to,” he says. “These
experiences made me ask questions about the
presence of a minister in extreme situations,
like at an execution. The position of the
church is complicated.
“It is right for the church to have a chap¬
lain to stand on the scaffold to minister to
those who are dying and to stand with those
who are carrying out the death sentence.
I learned to see how ethical issues are joined
up. There is no easy, logical way forward,
but we must learn to go forward in love.”
While moderator, Torrance visited all
units of the British Armed Forces serving in
Iraq as well as some American units. Never a
supporter of the war, when he returned
home he wrote to British prime minister
Tony Blair, giving his sense of the growing
cooperation he had seen in February. And
Publications by lain R. Torrance
Christology After Chalcedon: Severus
of Antioch and Sergius the Monophysite
(originally printed by the Canterbury
Press, 1988), nowWipf and Stock,
reprint, 1998)
To Glorify God: Essays on Modern
Reformed Liturgy (T&T Clark, 1999),
coeditor and contributor
Bio-Ethics for the New Millennium,
2000, editor. A volume of lectures from
a 1999 Church of Scotland conference
on human genetics.
Dr. Torrance also edits the Scottish
Journal of Theology.
Blair wrote back, grateful for Torrance’s visit
and report.
“The chaplaincy has been part of my
life for 20 years,” Torrance explains. He
believes it has helped him to understand
ambiguity. “I am interested in and commit¬
ted to the role of the Christian minister
in ambiguous situations.”
He cites an example from Bosnia.
“The Bosnian war was unspeakably cruel,
and 1 remember visiting a chaplain there.
He single-handedly kept families of elderly
people in the hills alive, giving them flour,
oil, and candles. He reached out to Croat,
Serb, and Muslim — old people who lived
in abject poverty in the hills, their extended
families having moved on or been killed.
There is an immense amount of good that a
minister can contribute in reversing hatred.”
Along with this intimate pastoral experi¬
ence, Torrance brings to Princeton Seminary
a wealth of academic experience, both in
administration and teaching.
As dean of the Faculty of Arts and
Divinity that had 92 full-time academic fac¬
ulty and 3,000 students, he relied on
two teams — an administrative team and
an academic team. He says he learned
certain key lessons about keeping an aca¬
demic institution on a healthy course.
First, the importance of involving col¬
leagues in decision-making. “The most
unexpected things can come out of
cooperation,” he says. “You need a colle-
giality of a kind that people feel sup¬
ported. I make decisions, but the deci¬
sions are based on hearing and under¬
standing what other people say, from
their unique points of view. I don’t just
mean a trade-off of interests, but a real
understanding of what unintended con¬
sequences could be of a decision that
ignored input from others.”
Second, Torrance is committed to
the importance of what he calls “holding
transparency.” He says people “need
to see why certain things are prioritized,
so as to better understand decisions
that may be unpopular.” He appreciated
Aberdeen’s principal introducing a meet¬
ing planner software to the campus
that functioned as an integrated diary,
enabling people to know what colleagues
were doing, and to encourage accessibili¬
ty and teamwork.
“This doesn’t mean micromanaging,”
Torrance says, “but rather colleagues acting
as dialogue partners for each other, offering
help across departmental lines.”
Torrance believes that at the heart of the
academic enterprise are core intellectual
skills: truth-telling, compassion, sharing,
honesty, and respect. “One should try to
inculcate these skills in students, no matter
what discipline one is teaching. Learning is
not just about the transfer of knowledge, but
about values.”
lain and Morag Torrance with their children in a family
picture taken in 1991, just before lain expected to
deploy to the Gulf War as a chaplain.
inSpire • 13
summer/fall 2004
His own academic passions are patristics,
in which he did his doctoral work, and
Christian ethics. He believes the early
Christian writers provide foundational docu¬
ments for the contemporary church that can
be exciting and helpful reading lor today’s
ministers. “For example, Cyprian of
Carthage wrote treatises on the unity of the
church catholic as a unity that is beyond our
human reach and not of our own creating,”
he explains. “Augustine, in his struggle with
the Donatists, had to find a way ol distin¬
guishing what makes valid a sacrament — the
purity of the person presiding, or the fact
that they are sacraments of Christ.”
Torrance believes analogies from
church history don’t prove an exact match,
but they do provide a framework
and give a vocabulary with which
to address unprecedented ques¬
tions the church faces today.
“They help us avoid bipolar situa¬
tions where those on each side of
a ‘purity’ or ‘unity’ discussion
demonize the other as disloyal or
unfaithful,” he says. “In Scotland
we have a smaller church, and so
face divisive issues perhaps less
than you do in America. And our
church has not suffered from his¬
toric divisions like the Civil War.”
The new president looks
forward to teaching in the
Seminary’s history department,
but not to duplicate what other
faculty in the department are
offering. “At the right time, I will seek an
appropriate and complementary area in
church history to teach,” he says. “I would
very much like to have avenues in which I
have direct access to students.”
Boundary-crossing issues are also very
close to Torrance’s heart, be they theological
or ecclesial. He wrote an article titled “Fear
of Being Left Out and Confidence in Being
Included: The Liturgical Celebration of
Ecclesial Boundaries” in To Glorify God:
Essays on Modern Reformed Liturgy , which
he also coedited with Bryan Sparks. In the
article, which comments on baptismal litur¬
gies, he writes about “a distinctiveness which
is real, but not excluding,” and points to
the limits of vocabulary in trying to express
“a boundary which is not a perimeter.”
14 • inSpire
He believes that spatial terms can mislead
in discussion of ecclesial boundaries. For
him, an ecclesial boundary is “a stage of
growth, not a completion; a matter of deep¬
ening and promise more than being inside
rather than outside.” Such a boundary
“maintains an openness to the future, an
eschatology, which prevents a hardening
of the boundaries now.”
Torrance sees a similar shifting of bound¬
aries in the activities and parables of Jesus,
who is “constantly concerned with the ques¬
tion of offense and the undoing of limit."
He believes that true Christian unity is given
to humanity by God; “not that we love God,
but that Christ loved us.”
he
says.
A recent photograph of lain Torrance with his father,Thomas F.
Torrance. Father and son both served as moderators of the Church
of Scotland.
As in his scholarship, Iain Torrance prizes
boundary-crossing in the work ol ministry.
For the past decade he has been a member
ol the dialogue between the World Alliance
of Reformed Churches and the Orthodox
Church, and knows that that dialogue has
shaped him. “I wouldn’t be who I am with¬
out it." He points out that in its early stages,
the dialogue was academic, mostly male and
mostly northern. “But then they invited
in a woman from the Congo, and another
woman from Korea. There was a determina¬
tion to allow participants to reflect the shape
of the Relormed family. It must have been
difficult for the Orthodox, because a dia¬
logue that had been academic and orderly
became vibrant and unruly, with different
questions on the agenda.”
Torrance was often the person who
attempted the first dralt of the dialogue’s
statements, and began to see how boundaries
were changing. “It is now very difficult to
identify what is distinctively and exclusively
‘Reformed,’ he explains. He began to speak
of “a Reformed style, of instincts, of an ener¬
gy, of a vision. Even of improvisation.”
As moderator, Torrance visited Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Kenya, North and South Sudan,
Iraq, and China. He saw the camps for the
thousands of displaced people at the edge of
Khartoum, and was invited to share in wor¬
ship “with people who had literally nothing.”
“I marveled at the discipline of their
schools and the avid attention of the pupils,”
‘I went into southern Sudan and
have never been made to feel more
welcome or more powerless. And
now we all know of the genocide
in the northwest, in Dafur. Seeing
this made me contextualize our
western moral obsessions. I real¬
ized in visiting these places and
these people that the world had
changed for me, too.”
And now Iain Torrance
comes to take up a calling as
the Seminary’s sixth president.
It is not his first time in
Princeton. In 1959 he was here
as a child, while his father, theolo¬
gian Thomas F. Torrance, a friend
and guest of President McCord,
was giving lectures at the Seminary.
“Our family lived in Tennent
Hall,” he remembers. “It was a very happy
time; everything was new and exciting.”
He delighted in wisteria, fireflies, and
Princeton’s rare black squirrels. He remem¬
bers “the friendliness of the people,” and that
Speer Library was brand new. “Coming back
to a place you once visited as a child is like
a dream half-remembered,” he says.
And the ten-year-old Iain is remembered,
too. At this May’s alumni/ae reunion, Mary
(Pakosh) Cureton, Class of 1961, recalled
babysitting for Iain and his brother and sister
in their Tennent Hall apartment. “They
were such sweet kids,” she said. “The girls
in Tennent kind of adopted them. I remem¬
ber that Iain had sandy hair and he was
being tutored in Greek!” No one was
more surprised than Cureton to hear the
summer/fall 2004
announcement of the Seminary’s
new president!
In a way, though, admits Torrance,
his father’s relationship with Princeton
and friendship with McCord (“I
think Dr. McCord may have been
my father’s closest friend”) made him
avoid the Seminary. “I wanted to
be myself and not to milk my lather’s
networks. My father’s rooting was
always in Reformed theology, Calvin
and Barth. His relationships in the
church and the academy are part
of me. But I am not a clone, and
have tried deliberately to move into
new areas.”
Leaving Scotland means that both
Iain and his wife must leave their par¬
ents, all of whom are still living, but
are frail. uThat’s difficult,” he says,
“but with frequent flights it is not
really so far.” For Morag, who is an
elder in the Church of Scotland, it
also means leaving her job as manager
of the IT training unit at the
University of Aberdeen.
The Torrances will also leave
their two children in Scotland study¬
ing at university. Their son Hew
has just completed a biomedical
degree and may take it further. Their
daughter Robyn (“she is wacky and
creative,” says Torrance impishly)
is studying design and photography
in Edinburgh and did a summer job
as head cook at a pub in Edinburgh’s
Grassmarket. But Iain and Morag will
bring along two miniature longhaired
dachshunds, Maud and Cassiopia,
and a cat named Smudge.
Ecclesiastically, Princeton’s new
president will join the Presbyterian
Church (USA), and be examined
for membership in New Brunswick
Presbytery. He will also keep his ordi¬
nation in the Church of Scotland,
where he has many friends and much
history. He serves as a chaplain to
Her Majesty the Queen in Scotland.
(Although he has determined it the
better part of wisdom not to use the
designation TD after his name
in the States, for the Territorial
Decoration she bestowed on him,
Dr. Torrance visits with Professor Stacy Johnson and
his wife, Louise Lawson Johnson, at the General
Assembly in Richmond.
President Torrance with former president Thomas
Gillespie in April, when Torrance was introduced to the
faculty and staff.
Alumni/ae and Friends Gatherings
with President Torrance
Dr. Torrance looks forward to meeting Princeton
Seminary alumni/ae and friends around the country
and the world. During the coming academic year, he
will attend alumni/ae and friends gatherings in the
following cities.
September 22: Philadelphia
September 29: New Jersey
(at Princeton Seminary)
October 6: New York City
October 19: Washington, D.C.
November 10: Chicago
December 6: Atlanta
January 19:Tampa-St. Petersburg
March 15: Pittsburgh
April 25: San Diego
April 25: Newport Beach
April 26: Los Angeles
April 27: San Francisco
June 6: Seattle
June 7: Portland
For more information, go to http://www.ptsem.edu/
bond/alumni/alumevents.htm.
having been advised that some
Americans will think he has just
scored a touchdown!)
He is also a friend of Rowan
Williams, the archbishop of
Canterbury; the two overlapped
at Oxford. He hopes Williams may
be able to speak at his inauguration
ceremony in March.
But Princeton is where his vision
will focus and his heart will rest.
“I have great faith in the future
of Princeton Seminary and of this
church in world history,” Torrance
affirms. “The school has great poten¬
tial to do an astonishing amount
of good in the theater of world
Christianity. That is ultimately what
drew me here.”
Those who have known, and
those who have recently met Iain
Torrance believe that he will be
successful in his vision. Trustee
Earl Palmer, pastor of University
Presbyterian Church in Seattle and
a member of the search committee,
heard it in the prayer Torrance offered
during the search process. “From the
beginning, I sensed that this man
was a servant-leader with the gift
of wisdom,” says Palmer. “What I see
in Iain Torrance is a man who has
a warm heart for people, a strong and
thoughtful confidence in the biblical
witness to Jesus Christ, and a lifelong
commitment to the church.”
It is certain that this gracious man
who both takes his God and his work
deeply seriously, and yet takes himself
not too seriously, will have the prayers
of the worldwide Princeton Seminary
family as he takes up his calling. 1
Dr. Torrance’s
inauguration as
president will be
held on Friday,
March n, 2005.
inSpire *15
summer/fall 2004
The Life of a Biblical Scholar
Jim Roberts Makes a Full-Court Press on the Texts of Faith
by Leslie Dobbs-Allsopp
Like a dog worrying a bone or a basket¬
ball team in a full-court press defense, Jim
Roberts has spent his career as a biblical
scholar closing in on the texts and contexts
of the Bible and driving at their meanings.
This spring he retired from the Princeton
Seminary faculty, leaving a hole as deep
as the rigorous excavations he’s carved out
researching the texts and languages of the
ancient Near East.
Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts first visited
Princeton in the late 1960s, hoping to gain
access to the Seminary’s sizeable collection
of cuneiform tablets then in the care of
Professor Charles Fritsch. Roberts visited
Fritsch in his study at 80 Mercer Street,
and while Roberts never did get to see the
tablets, the study, with its floor-to-ceiling
bookshelves, bay window, and fireplace,
made a lasting impression. A decade later
President McCord was recruiting Roberts
for the William Henry Green Professorship
in Old Testament Literature, and offered to
show him the house he’d be living in. When
he walked in the door, Roberts remembered
that this was the same study he’d seen (and
coveted) when visiting Fritsch. The study
helped to seal the deal, leading to a remark¬
able 25-year tenure at Princeton Seminary,
a world away from the rural Texas where he
grew up.
Jim Roberts was raised on a 1,000-acre
stock farm in west Texas, six miles from
the nearest town. The second of four chil¬
dren, he was the first in his extended family
to finish college. As a boy he dreamed of
being a cartoonist, a fighter pilot, a preacher,
or a chemist. One would draw him because
of his love of learning.
Roberts was always a close reader of
the Bible. He took it out to the fields to
read surreptitiously instead of doing field¬
work, which always irritated his father.
Roberts had an early affinity for academic
work. At Abilene Christian University
he aced chemistry but found it “too boring.’’
On a whim he and a classmate signed up
to be Greek majors. It was in a Greek class
taught by Professor JM Roberts (no relation!)
that he “fell in love” with language study.
He studied both Greek and Hebrew as an
undergraduate. He married his high school
sweetheart, Genie, after his freshman year
of college, and their first child was born right
after graduation.
Knowing that he wanted to pursue
further biblical study, Roberts applied both
to Claremont School of Theology and to
Harvard Divinity School and was accepted
both places. He chose Harvard on the advice
of a benevolent aunt who offered financial
aid, saying, “Harvard I’ve heard of, go there!”
Jim and Genie packed up the car and drove
cross-country during the summer of 1961.
He had never driven in big cities and had
never seen a toll road. At the first toll booth
their combined change amounted to 24
cents, one penny short. For the next two
weeks they were sure the authorities would
come after them for the penny!
Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in
theological science at Harvard, and then
stayed on for a Ph.D. in Assyriology. His
mentors there were G. Ernest Wright, Frank
Moore Cross, Thorkild Jacobsen, and
Thomas Lambdin.
Roberts went to Harvard a theolog¬
ical conservative, on guard
against any liberal
heresy he might
Photo: Joshua Sutherlun
summer/fall 2004
find there. He quickly found that “this was
not the enemy”; indeed, most of his profes¬
sors were people of faith.
The first time Wright explained the doc¬
umentary hypothesis of Scripture was a eure¬
ka moment for Roberts — the repetitions and
oddities in the biblical text “finally made
sense!” He decided to pursue doctoral study
in Assyriology because “I wanted a field that
was closely related to the Old Testament in
which I didn’t have any theological bias, so
that I could use that as a control for dealing
with Old Testament material, where I did
have theological interest. I didn’t want my
own prejudices to color the outcome ol my
scholarship.” Studying Assyriology, however,
meant studying Akkadian, but mastering its
intricacies didn’t seem to pose a problem.
His secret? Studying in the bathtub! He still
finds Akkadian endlessly fascinating “because
one keeps encountering new people and new
languages” to pursue.
Jim Roberts has never had a problem
integrating critical study of the biblical text
with faith claims. Ordained quite young in
the Church of Christ, he has been preaching
and teaching in churches since undergradu¬
ate days. As he learned to control the texts
and critical apparatus of the field, Roberts
says he “simply incorporated the critical stuff
into teaching and preaching.... I always
found when I worked in a congregation and
they got to know me and trust me that
I could teach freely whatever I thought was
important.” In Princeton, Roberts has been
active at Liberty Street Church in Trenton,
Princeton Church of Christ, and Nassau
Presbyterian Church.
The Roberts family moved to Dartmouth
College in the late sixties while Jim served
as a research instructor and finished his
dissertation. From there they went to Johns
Hopkins University, where Jim stayed for
nine years. After a year as associate professor
at the University of Toronto, he brought his
family to Princeton in 1979.
Joining the Princeton I heological
Seminary faculty as a full professor was
“a heady experience,” Roberts recalls.
“1 had never had any status before. I wasn’t
all that used to people taking me seriously!”
(Students here have always taken Roberts
seriously, duly quaking at the beginning
of each class as he outlines very clearly
his high expectations for rigorous work in
original languages, and well-written papers.)
Roberts has enjoyed so many aspects
of life at Princeton, especially the collegial
relationships within the Biblical Studies
Department. “I have had a whole string
of colleagues who have been creative and
helpful and made me think in new ways,”
he says. Introverted by nature, he did not
have the chance to know colleagues from
other departments as well, which he regrets.
He has always appreciated the quality ol
Princeton students and takes pride in having
helped to build a tremendous doctoral
program in Bible. “It’s great seeing former
students become world-class scholars!”
He and his late wife, Genie, loved living
right on campus and walking all over town.
When Jim married again, he and Kathryn
lived together in Princeton for four years
until she completed her Ph.D. and took
a call as a professor at Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary. They’ve been com¬
muting for the last six years.
At the Seminary’s April retirement
dinner for Roberts, Professor Katharine
Doob Sakenfeld alluded to his legendary
basketball prowess: “Jim played olfensive
lineman in high school, and some would
say he never gave it up,” she said, “particular¬
ly on tennis and basketball courts." Roberts
demurs: “When I came to Princeton, Leong
Seow asked me to play basketball and I had
to learn the game all over again _ Leong
enjoyed playing at first, but when I got bet¬
ter he got less interested. The legend about
me playing rough is completely false. Most
of the injuries attributed to me I had noth¬
ing to do with. One time President Gillespie
attributed an injury to me when I was in
Texas!" He says basketball is a way to have
fun, to let off steam, and to get to know
students outside the classroom. However,
as Sakenfeld observed, “Jim hates to lose!”
Roberts’s abiding scholarly interests
include the way in which the Near Eastern
context and the biblical text interact with
and inform each other. His colleague Patrick
Miller believes “there is no one in the world
that I know who has shed more light on
biblical texts from materials and texts out
of the ancient Near East than Jim Roberts.
He is not interested in collecting parallels,
but in seeing how other texts enable one
to read the biblical text anew and see things
that are there.”
Roberts is known for his insistence on
the early dating of the Zion theology texts
because of the parallels to other similar Near
Eastern texts. He thinks that late dating of
these texts makes no sense. “The idea that
one would create a theology that glorifies
an imperial power at the time that Judah was
an insignificant vassal state seems to me to
be the most improbable thing in the world,”
he says, explaining that there are many
scholars who date texts early or late lor
polemical reasons. Roberts prefers to date
texts from the available evidence, particularly
parallel texts from the surrounding ancient
Near Eastern cultures.
Plans for his retirement in Texas include
major writing projects, and some hunting
and fishing. He’s looking forward to living
full time with Kathryn. He might also
go back to Greek — his first linguistic love.
He would love to read some of the classical
Greek literary texts: “There’s always some¬
thing new to learn!”
That is the heart of a scholar, and
Roberts describes a scholar’s life as one who
knows it intimately. “It’s a solitary enterprise.
A scholar is someone who has to just be
alone with the text, someone who is in
it for the long haul, he explains. “Most
scholarship is dry as dust, and a scholar has
to be able to go through the desert to get
to a watering hole. A scholar takes pleasure
in slogging through that desert and coming
out with new insights and ideas.”
Jim Roberts embodies this life —
the endless interest in studying something
new, the rigorous work ethic, the curiosity
about everything having to do with one’s
field, and the abiding love of learning.
He will be such a scholar for as long as
there are texts to read. S
Leslie Dobbs-Allsopp directs the Building
Bridges Project, funded by Lilly Endowment
Inc., of the Seminary's Institute for Youth
Ministry. She and her husband, Chip Dobbs-
Allsopp, are friends and colleagues of Jim and
Kathryn Roberts.
inSpire *17
summer/fall 2004
From Steam Lines to Snowplows
David Poinsett Retires as Princeton’s Steward
of Structures and Spaces
by Barbara A. Chaapel
If David Poinsett, Princeton’s newly
retired director of facilities, were ever to write
a book, he would title it Twenty-Two Years in
the Wilderness: My Life among the Calvinists'.
“The book would contain a million stories,’’
he says, “including when I met Dr. McCord
on my first day of work in 1981 and told
him I was a United Methodist. His immedi¬
ate retort: ‘Well, David, we’ll just have to
work on your faith!'
Although this Methodist has spent the
longest, and he says the best, part of his
career at the Seminary, it has been far from
wilderness for him or for the institution.
During his tenure, first as director of hous¬
ing (1981-1991) and then as director of
facilities (1991-2004), he has overseen and
lovingly cared for the campus’s one million
square feet of property (all the campus build¬
ings and 44 faculty houses) and 177 acres of
land. During Dr. Gillespie’s presidency, that
has included the addition of Luce Library,
the Witherspoon Apartments, Scheide Hall,
Templeton Hall, the Dupree Center for
Children, and the renovation of Erdman
Hall, or 260,000 square feet of space.
“For a seminary of 850 students, that’s
a lot of real estate,’’ Poinsett points out.
Even more than the pride he takes in the
campus, though, is his satisfaction in putting
together an outstanding staff team. “I could¬
n’t have accomplished anything without the
60 people I work with — the staff in mainte¬
nance, the technicians, the security force,
the grounds crew, and the custodial staff,”
he says. “ They are all committed to the well¬
being of the school; the grounds guys are
here early with every winter storm, shoveling
snow even before faculty and students begin
calling in to see if classes will be held.”
1 he challenges in managing such a staff
and campus are many, and have increased
and changed in Poinsett’s two decades-plus.
Having historic buildings is a major
challenge; though beautiful, they
take extra care, from choosing histor¬
ically accurate paint colors for faculty houses
to repairing woodwork and bricks to match
the originals. Luckily, Poinsett’s previous job
as supervisor of historic sites for the New
Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry gave
him experience in renovating old buildings.
“We worked closely with Princeton’s
Historic District Commission when we
repaired the front porch of 58 Mercer
Street [the house Dr. Pat Miller and his wife
live in],” Poinsett explains by example.
“[Seminary archivist] Bill Harris found old
photos of the original house with its porch,
and we designed the balustrades and
handrails to match it.”
Such attention to detail has paid off.
Renovations to several campus buildings,
including Alexander and Brown Halls, have
garnered historic preservation awards from
the Princeton Historical Society and the
State of New Jersey.
Another challenge has been the increased
level of expectations of students and faculty.
Second-career students are more numerous
and they expect better housing. “You can’t
expect people who have been out of college
for years to go back to living in dormitories
with gang showers and no kitchen facilities,”
Poinsett says. Witherspoon Apartments have
helped address this problem, but Poinsett
thinks the Seminary will have to do more.
And then there is security. Like the
nation, after 9/1 1 the Seminary has had to
address what people need to feel secure, 24
hours a day. For Princeton, that means more
campus lighting, locked doors to dormitories
and office buildings, more security person¬
nel, and student and employee ID cards to
enter the childcare center, the library, and
the parking garage.
Legal requirements and regulations have
changed, too. “Were in an increasingly
regulatory environment,’’ explains Poinsett.
“There are new laws about fire suppression
systems, workers’ safety, environmentally
sound storage tanks, and of course the
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
We’re proud of what we’ve been able to do,
like providing accessible building and
restrooms, and phones for the hearing-
impaired. And by the end of the summer
we will have fire sprinklers in all of our resi¬
dence halls, mandated by the State of New
Jersey by the end of 2004 in response to the
fire at Seton Hall University several years ago
that killed several students.”
Poinsett has also worked through a few
crises, from Hurricane Floyd’s visit to central
Jersey in September 1999, which closed
the Seminary for two days, to a fire in the
basement of the Mackay Campus Center
during his first month as facilities director
in 1991. Floyd brought flooding in base¬
ments, downed tree limbs, and an absence
of potable water, which Poinsett’s staff solved
by providing cases of bottled water to stu¬
dents. “The basement fire was probably set
as a cover-up for a burglary,’’ Poinsett says.
“There wasn’t much damage, but it was a bit
unnerving to be called in in the early morn¬
ing not knowing what I would find.”
Then there were the 17-year cicada visits,
which Poinsett lived through twice in his
Princeton years. Millions of them, the living
and the dead, beset the campus in May and
June. “This year was the second time around
for me,” he says. “They were here in 1987,
too, all over the campus. Not a crisis, really,
but an amazing phenomenon.”
Given all this, the life of a facilities
director can be pretty hectic. Perhaps no
one knows that better than Susan Molloy,
facilities office coordinator. “A week's work
could include a faculty member’s request
18 • inSpire
Photo: Joshua Sutherlun
summer/fall 2004
for roof repairs, a Princeton Borough meet¬
ing about building permits, a meeting with
student government to discuss fire suppres¬
sion in the dorms, a walk-around to check
the condition of stair treads, a meeting with
a vendor on gas prices, and a meeting with
staff to review repair schedules for the swim¬
ming pool,” says Molloy. “I guess there really
isn’t a typical week!”
Poinsett leaves the Facilities Office in
what he considers the “very capable hands”
of German Martinez Jr., his associate direc¬
tor, promoted to director in July. Poinsett
says Martinez and his staff will have major
projects on their plate. The first is a master
plan for the campus, now in its initial stages,
outlining what new and upgraded facilities
will be needed in the next 10-to-20 years.
The plan came out of a facilities condition
assessment that the Board of Trustees com¬
missioned to project what major repairs need
to be done and what new buildings need
to be built as the institution approaches its
bicentennial in 2012. The assessment also
discovered what most Princetonians already
know — that there is very little deferred
maintenance on the Seminary campus, a fact
that gratifies Poinsett and his staff.
Martinez will also need to address the
condition of married student apartments
(CRW) on the West Windsor Campus.
“When the Seminary acquired them in
1965, we proudly advertised them as luxury
garden apartments,” Poinsett says. “They
had air conditioning and hardwood floors,
which was a luxury at the time! Now they’re
45 years old and need serious attention.”
Renovations to Speer Library will also
be on Martinez’s list.
Given his 22-year stay, one might expect
that Poinsett will leave a bit of his heart at
Princeton Seminary. “I will miss the colle-
giality and friendship of the two presidents
and three vice presidents for whom I have
worked,” he says. “They have been very
different, but all became good friends. ” He
has also valued the support of the trustees,
and their care for the campus. “Our trustees
have a real love for this place, and a strong
sense of stewardship,” he asserts.
John Gilmore, the current vice president,
feels privileged to have worked with Poinsett.
“David has been tremendously effective in
being able to carry out the enormous and
varied demands of his position,” Gilmore
says. “He cares deeply about the mission of
the Seminary, and we will miss his collegial
style, his positive attitude, and his dry wit.”
Gilmore may rival Poinsett in the dry
wit category. At the Seminary’s retirement
dinner, Gilmore with straight face presented
Poinsett with a memento of his beloved
Yankee Stadium — a toilet seat with a Yankees
decal on the lid, purportedly from the actual
home of the Bronx Bombers (wink wink).
The toilet seat was joined by more seri¬
ous retirement gifts: a rocking chair, a gift
certificate for power tools at Home Depot
(Poinsett, who built a hope chest for his wife
before they were married, looks forward to
doing woodworking in his home woodshop),
and two books (the official centennial
edition of the history of the Yankees and
the 50th anniversary edition of the history
of the Corvette).
Obviously retirement years will include
following the Yanks. Poinsett also looks
forward to restoring his ’78 Corvette, and
to traveling. This fall he will go with his
brother, stepbrother, and stepfather to
Washington, D.C., to visit the World War
Two Memorial and the new National Air
and Space Museum annex. “And my wife
and 1 want to travel out west after she retires,
“We got to the airport to find that
all flights had been cancelled,” Poinsett
recounts. “I soon realized that I didn’t have
my wallet— I must have dropped it on the
road when I got out to clean off the wind¬
shield. So my guests bought me dinner,
and we got to know each other as we spent
the night on the floor of the Air Canada
Terminal surrounded by skis. They were
wonderful, and of course I agreed to send
them the money they loaned me.”
He had to send it to Scotland. The cou¬
ple was Dr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Torrance,
the parents of Princeton’s new president, Dr.
Iain Torrance.
He has overseen
and lovingly
cared for the
campus’s one
million square
feet of property.
When David
to the deserts and the national parks and
Poinsett reached
Canada,” he says.
the new president
It goes without saying that Poinsett
in the receiving
will often find his way to Harrisburg, Penn¬
line of a campus
sylvania, to visit his daughter and son-in-law
reception for him
and granddaughter Georgianna Ruth.
in April when the
He may even return to the Seminary,
Seminary’s sixth
arriving in his Corvette to be a waiter at the
president was
annual senior class banquet. “As long as I fit
introduced,
into my white summer tux — the one I got
Poinsett says
married in — I’ll be there to bid farewell to
that Iain Torrance
the seniors,” he promises.
grinned broadly
Then there’s that book. He’s got the per¬
and said, ‘/ know
fect final chapter.
you ; my parents
“It was a dark and stormy night,” it
have told me all
might begin. Poinsett would go on to tell
about you!’”
about the February evening in 1983 when
then-president McCord asked him to drive
a couple who had been visiting the Seminary
to LaGuardia Airport. They started off in
the snow, and by the time they reached
the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway they were
in a blizzard.
Some of the buildings that have
been constructed or renovated
during Poinsett's tenure include
(from top to bottom) Scheide
Hall, Luce Library, Witherspoon
Apartments, the Carol Gray
Dupree Center for Children,
Templeton Hall, and Erdman Hall.
A fitting coda to the career of a man
who came to Princeton never dreaming that
he would meet and befriend some of those
he calls “the greatest theological minds in
the church.”
“I didn’t think this would be a calling,"
he says. “But, in retrospect, it has been.” I
inSpire • 1 9
outstanding in the field
LIVING LIFE
CREATIVELY
by Erin Dunigan
It is ironic, really. Not in the typical
sense of the word, but in that “I chose to
spend the year in Scotland thinking that
since they speak English I will be able to
understand them” kind of way.
Let me step back a moment. As a recipi¬
ent of the 2003 Parish Pulpit Fellowship I
spent last year living in St. Andrews,
Scotland. My role was as a visiting scholar
with the Institute for Theology, Imagination,
and the Arts (ITIA) at St. Mary’s (the divini¬
ty school of St. Andrews University). ITIA is
a program that seeks “to discover and
demonstrate ways in which the arts can con¬
tribute to the renewal of Christian theology’
and “to find ways in which the arts can con¬
tribute to a sensitive and rigorous engage¬
ment of the church with modern and post¬
modern culture.”
Back to the irony. My topic of study for
the year was creativity as a way of encounter¬
ing God. This idea grew out of a number of
experiences during my senior year at
Princeton, when these two ideas seemed to
keep intersecting.
What began as a mild interest, as I tried
to use paints and colors to express feelings
during an “art of healing” day in clinical
pastoral education, was nurtured when I read
Julia Cameron’s guidebook for creativity
as a path to spiritual life {The Artist's Way),
and blossomed in a final project called
“Creativity as Prayer” for my class on prayer
and pastoral care.
This concept of creativity as a way of
encountering God is based on Cameron’s
idea that “art [creativity, in this case] is not
about thinking something up. It is about the
opposite — getting something down. If we are
trying to think something up we are strain-
THE GIFT OF SCOTLAND
Two Grads Reap Rewards of Parish Pulpit Fellowshi
The Graduate Study Fellowship for the Parish Pulpit Ministry is
awarded annually to a graduating senior who demonstrates outstanding
homiletic and academic potential, and is committed to the parish pul¬
pit ministry in the Protestant Church. Recipients are invited to spend a
year studying overseas in the location of their choice. Princeton gradu¬
ates Erin Dunigan and Jeremy Deck, who both received Parish Pulpit
Fellowships in 2003, each made Scotland their classroom for a year.
Photos were taken by Erin Dunigan. Left to right, they picture Erin and Jeremy running in the Rome marathon, a window in a chapel on the Isle of Iona in Scotland, boats in
Italy, a standing cross in front of the Iona Abbey, Erin at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, a window in an Irish church, fruits and vegetables at a Dublin market, Erin with PTS
professor Wentzel van Huyssteen at the Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, boats in Venice, and Jeremy in Portugal.
REFORMING
RELATIONSHIPS
by Jeremy Deck
I must admit that whenever I discuss
the parish-pulpit fellowship with someone,
I receive jealous stares and remarks like, “It
must be rough having to study something
you love without having to worry about a
grade” and “How did you cope with having
to travel around Europe for a year?”
It was indeed with extreme joy that
I learned I had received this fellowship for
overseas study and travel. Having heard won¬
derful things about Scotland, and wanting
to learn more about my adoptive mother
church (I joined the PCUSA after my junior
year at Princeton), I decided to spend the
year in beautiful (though rainy) Edinburgh.
I he fellowship allowed me to study
preaching in a different culture, fostering
a greater understanding of my own culture
in turn. My studies took me to different
churches each week to experience an array
of preaching styles. A number of preachers
shared with me their approaches to homilet¬
ics and their insights into the art of pastoral
ministry. One of these pastors, whose Epi¬
scopal church has actually been gaining
members (a rarity by local standards), told
me how difficult it was to keep his congrega¬
tion from atrophying. He said he has seen
an entire generation go virtually untouched
by the church. Those words often echoed
in my head when I visited churches where
the young seemed absent, and the old, life¬
less. It impressed upon me, time and time
again, the importance of maintaining vitality
across every demographic.
I carried my new insights into the pul¬
pits of several Scottish churches. Preaching
in a foreign land was a rewarding but trying
experience; I had not realized how much I
rely on my knowledge of culture in prepar-
20 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
ft outstanding
in the field
ing to reach for something that’s just beyond
our grasp... when we get something down,
there is no strain. . .instead of reaching for
inventions, we are engaged in listening.’’
This is how I proposed to spend my
year — listening and living life creatively.
I took a pottery class (my two masterpieces
are not exactly symmetrical!) and a mixed-
media painting class, and learned to knit and
to bake apple pies (the apple pie lessons were
courtesy of a visiting mother from Georgia,
and not a local Scottish delicacy!). I attended
Ph.D. seminars in theology at IT1A, and
traveled to new places, including running a
marathon in Rome (and along the way real¬
izing that the “big church” we were running
toward was St. Peter’s!) and visiting Iceland
in January to learn that there the main dif¬
ference in seasons is noticed not in tempera¬
ture but in light. 1 prepared a Scottish Burns
Night Supper (complete with haggis, which
I actually liked!), and spent time in conversa¬
tion over meals with friends in the St. Mary’s
community. After this year of listening,
when it came time to sit down and write
about my experience I wondered what
I would ‘think up.’ It was then that the irony
hit me.
In my initial proposal for the fellowship,
I was much more concerned about what
I would study than where I would study.
As it turned out, the what of my study was
indeed valuable, but far more significant was
the where.
Scotland provided me with an environ¬
ment that was similar enough to what I was
used to that I was able to function fairly easi¬
ly. It was different enough, though, that
I was forced to be more attentive than I oth¬
erwise would have been. This struck me — or,
rather, I almost struck it — while I was walk¬
ing out of a shop in town. Striding toward
the door, I reached out to push it open and
exit onto the street when my momentum
was thwarted. It was then that I noticed the
word “Pull.” I realized at that moment, after
weeks of having this vague sense of some¬
thing being just a wee bit off, what the prob¬
lem was. Every time I entered or left a shop,
my first response was the wrong one.
Previously I had never bothered to think
about whether you pushed or pulled a door
based on entering or exiting. It was some¬
thing that just came naturally, so I figured it
was simply the way things were. Living in
another culture one often learns that the way
things are is not always the same.
This is true in language, too: “fries” are
chips and chips are crisps, rounds are
what you pay or spend, and “stones” are
what you weigh. If you tell someone they
have “nice pants,” you are complimenting
their underwear, and if you are due to arrive
somewhere at “half two” and show up at
1:30, you will be an hour early.
I found out almost immediately upon
arrival that the Brits all wanted to discuss
what I thought about “my Mr. Bush,” and
I didn’t have an inkling whether discussing
politics might be on my list of polite, get-to-
know-you chit-chat.
These seem mundane examples, but
they illustrate the need to pay attention
when living in another culture, even one that
has so many outward similarities to your
own. It is this heightened sense of awareness
that I attempted to nurture during my
Scottish year.
Within Scotland, St. Andrews, a small
town with three main streets that is nestled
ing my sermons. For my first sermon
in Newton Mearns, a Glasgow suburb,
I preached about saints past and present,
including Mother Teresa. It was during a
meeting with the pastor only one day before
I preached that I was reminded of the highly
volatile Catholic/Protestant dynamic in
Glasgow. It is a city that has been torn apart
by sectarianism, culminating frequently in
violent soccer games between the Rangers
and the Celtics (Glasgow’s two preeminent
Erin Dunigan
teams). While the pastor assured me that it
would “probably” be okay to include Mother
Teresa in my sermon (I am unsure to this
day whether or not his “probably” was sar¬
castic, though I felt the sermon was well
received), I was still fearful of venturing into
a topic that has accounted for so much pain
among so many. The experience helped me
see that preaching must take seriously both
the content of the gospel and the context in
which it is preached.
The culture shock didn’t end there, as
I was repeatedly made aware of how much
I rely on “shared knowledge.” From the
monetary currency to the usage of words,
from what constitutes a “good society" to the
prevalent understandings of God, I could
no longer assume that I was on common
ground with passersby. It was often in the
simplest of things that differences would
reveal themselves. If you don’t ask a waiter
for your bill, you’ll be sitting in the restau-
inSpire *21
summer/fall 2004
1|t outstanding
in the field
between the North Sea and the ruins of a
13th-century cathedral, provided a slower
pace and rhythm of life, conducive to these
ideas of listening and being attentive.
Finally, within St. Andrews, the commu¬
nity of St. Mary’s became a wonderful place
of being able to live out this life of listening
in relationship and conversation with others.
Life in another culture also affords an
opportunity to step outside the “normal’’
way of thinking and reacting, to see events
from another perspective. Some examples for
me were listening to news of the election of
California’s Governor Schwarzenegger on the
BBC’s Radio One alongside my South
African flatmate; learning about “The
Troubles” in Northern Ireland from a
Northern Irish friend and then traveling to
Northern Ireland to witness the fragility of
the peace; discussing the differences between
Scotland and Princeton with Princeton’s new
president during a photo shoot in Edinburgh
(1 told Dr. Torrance that the Halo Pub in
Princeton is actually an ice cream parlor and
a must visit!).
Travel writer Rick Steves, in his “back¬
door” philosophy of travel, says this:
We travel to enjoy differences — to
become temporary locals. You’ll experi¬
ence frustrations. Certain truths that we
find “God-given” or “self-evident,” like
ice cream drinks, bottomless cups of cof¬
fee, hot showers, and “bigger” being
“better” are suddenly not so true. One of
the benefits of travel is the eye-opening
realization that there are logical, civil,
and even better alternatives.
Within Scotland, St. Andrews, a small
town with three principal streets, nestled
between the North Sea and the ruins of a
1 3th-century cathedral, provided a slower
pace and rhythm of life, conducive to these
practices of listening and being attentive.
And it is a place where I found myself lis¬
tened to and attended to. St. Leonard’s
Church, one of four Church of Scotland
congregations in the town, became my
church home for the year, a place where I
was known by name and where the congre¬
gation, not flashy but faithful, gathered week
after week.
This year was a unique opportunity in
allowing me the freedom and flexibility to
live a life of attentive listening. As I seek
a call to ordained ministry in the PCUSA,
it is my hope that I will continue to listen.
Above all else, this year has been a gift. For
that 1 am truly grateful, z
Erin Dunigan presently lives, writes, and
takes photographs in California.
rant until it closes. I had worked as a waiter
back home, where it was usually our goal
to get people in and out as quickly as
possible, the better to save time for our
patrons and make more money for ourselves.
Coming from a country where speed and
efficiency are prized, the ability to sit and
converse with those around me without
feeling pressure to leave was a dramatic
and welcome change.
The year was also a time to reflect on
what I had learned at Princeton Seminary
(something that we rarely have time to
do while we’re there), and the journey that
would begin when I returned to the States.
I was reminded of the importance of
relationships, both in ministry and in our
own lives.
I became friends with a German univer¬
sity student who initially thought I was
a religious fanatic for attending church, not
to mention my aspiration to become a pas¬
tor. Growing up in post-war Germany, he
had been taught the dangers of trusting in
things emotional. Thus, he relied on logic
and empirical evidence, distrusting anything
that related to faith. Through hours of listen¬
ing and conversation, during which he
seemed to be testing whether I had a brain,
I was slowly able to gain his trust. While he
still may think I am somewhat crazy, one
of his parting wishes was for me to give
him some theological writings to mull over.
Our friendship taught me the difficulty
and importance of gaining trust, especially
among a generation that feels burned by
what they have seen in the church. It also
Jeremy Deck
revealed that when we are willing and able to
give time to others, God can break through
any walls, be they theological or cultural.
As I return to North America, I look
forward to the challenge of being a parish
minister. I carry with me the naivete of
a recently graduated seminarian, coupled
with the experience of being a stranger in
a strange land. It is my hope that as I begin
a five-month internship at a church in
Altavista, Virginia, I will be able to return
the gift that was given to me in this fellow¬
ship — that I will proclaim justice, even amid
fear; listen to others, despite the hurried pace
of our society; and take the time to build
relationships, especially with those who are
skeptical of “religious people.” z
Jeremy Deck is pastoring at a church in
Altavista, Virginia.
22 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
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Members of the Class of 1954 who attended their 50th reunion in May
their 50th wedding anniversary on June 12.
His email address is sebt2@comcast.net.
Class Notes may be edited for length or clarity,
and should include the writer's name, degree(s),
year(s) of graduation, address, and telephone
number. We receive many class notes and
try to print them all, but because the magazine
is published three times a year, that is not
always possible.
Photographs are welcome, but upon discretion of
the editor may not be used due to the quality of
the photograph or space limitations. Photographs
may be submitted electronically as long as they
are a high-quality resolution of at least 300 dpi.
Key to Abbreviations:
Upper-case letters designate degrees
earned at PTS:
M.Div. B D.Min. P
M.R.E. E Th.D. D
M.A. E Ph.D. D
Th.M. M
Special undergraduate student U
Special graduate student G
When an alumnus/a did not receive a degree,
a lower-case letter corresponding to those above
designates the course of study.
Charles S. Webster (B) is
retired and serves as chaplain of Moorings
Park Retirement Resort in Naples, Florida.
1 949 William E. Gibson (B) of
Ithaca, New York, has edited Eco-Justice —
The Unfinished Journey (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 2004).
954 John E. Hunn (B) celebrated
50 years of ministry in June. He was the
first person to receive a scholarship from
the First Presbyterian Church of Cranford,
New Jersey, to attend Princeton Seminary
50 years ago.
Don Pendell (B) writes, “Fifty
years ago (1954), Sid Conger ('55B)
and I were three-time winners on Ted Mack’s
The Original Amateur Hour, traveling
to Washington, D.C., with Pat Boone to
pantomime Spike Jones records on network
television for President Dwight Eisenhower.”
A.D. Robb (B) is the liaison between his
presbytery — the Presbytery of Sheppards and
Lapsley — and a sister presbytery in Oaxaca,
Mexico. He writes, “Three Oaxacan leaders
were in our presbytery in November. We
plan to install a water purification project in
a village.”
Terrence N.Tice (B, '61 D) is
still engaged with research and writing, and
will coteach a Schleiermacher course at Ilifl
Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado,
with Catherine Kelsey in winter term 2005.
1958 C.S. Calian's (B) book The Ideal
Seminary: Pursuing Excellence in Theological
Education is now
in its fourth
printing
(Westminster
John Knox Press).
Calian is presi-
O
•| dent oi Pittsburgh
1 Theological
00
2 Seminary.
| William W.
2 LeConey (B)
I and his wife,
JZ
Lucia, celebrated
Demetrios J. Constantelos's
(M) books Byzantine Philanthropy and
Poverty, Society, and Philanthropy, translated
in Greek and Romanion, will be issued
soon in Russian. His book Understanding
the Greek Orthodox Church is now in its
fourth edition.
Robert V. Jones's (B, '62M) book
God, Galileo, and Geering: A Faith for the
Twenty-First Century will be published this
fall by Polebridge Press. Jones is chaplain
of the Chapel of the Resurrection at Spring
Lake Village Retirement Center in Santa
Rosa, California.
1 960 J. Scottie Griffin (B, '79P) has
served as an interim pastor at Lynnhaven
Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, since 2000.
George Lamar Haines (B, '63M)
writes, “Through Worldwide Christian
Schools God has used us to found or expand
seven Christian schools on four continents.
We host a pastors’ masters golf tournament
each year to fund these schools.” Haines lives
in Yorba Linda, California.
Richard H. Stearns (B) and his wife,
Eleanor, have retired and live in Landenberg,
Pennsylvania. His email address is
revstearns@aol.com.
Duncan Watson (B) writes that he
“appreciates the tributes [in inSpire\ to
Professor Ed Dowey, a key teacher for me.
inSpire • 23
Photo: Leigh Photo & Imaging
summer/fall 2004
notes
Members of the Class of 1964 who attended their 40th reunion in May
laincy, active duty and reserves (colonel, 37
years service), From the parish ministry,
from university teaching, from the executive
directorship of the Christian Association for
Psychological Study, and as editor-in-chief
of the Journal of Psychology and Christianity.
{? He still serves interim pastorates, teaches
‘o>
| as a college faculty adjunct, and continues
08 his private psychotherapy practice. He is
| also a research scholar in the Department
o> of Near Eastern Studies at the University of
'5>
Michigan. Ellens wonders if his classmate
x and friend Bruce Blackie ('64M) “is still
out there.”
He was a referee in my application for Ph.D.
studies at Edinburgh; we had a lovely visit in
Zurich in 1962, and my wife, Tertia ('59U),
babysat for the Dowey children, who spoke
haaf and /ratef (according to Ed)! He was
very kind to us on my leave in Princeton
in 1982.” The Watsons live in Kallista,
Victoria, Australia.
1961 On June 9, Paul Eppinger (B,
'65M) was surprised by a celebration of the
50th anniversary of his ordination to the
ministry by the American Baptist Churches.
Two hundred people attended, including the
governor of Arizona, the Honorable Janet
Napolitano (pictured below with Eppinger),
who gave a proclamation commemorating
the event. Eppinger has served four
American Baptist churches across the coun¬
try, was a missionary in Japan, was the
statewide executive director of the Martin
Luther King Jr. Campaign to win Arizona
a King holiday, was the executive director
of the Arizona Ecumenical Council for eight
years, and is presently the executive director
of the Arizona Interfaith Movement. ▼
Henry Bucher (B) retired after
the close of the 2004 spring term as the
chaplain of Austin College in Sherman,
Texas, where he served for the last 19 years.
He joined Austin College in 1985 as chap¬
lain and associate professor of humanities.
He was granted emeritus faculty status upon
his retirement and will continue to be part of
Austin’s adjunct faculty. ▼
964 Richard (Dick) Bunce (b)
retired in January 2003 from his position as
executive director of Progressive Christians
Uniting, an ecumenical nonprofit organiza¬
tion advocating for social justice and head¬
quartered in Pomona, California.
Charles J. Duey Sr. (M) writes, “What
a wonderful class reunion in May! Thanks
for taking care of the many details and
making us feel welcome. The catering
was well done also. I mention in passing
that we here in Connecticut won’t have our
cicada fest until 2013.”
Jay Harold Ellens (M) is
retired from the United States Army chap-
James Welch (B) writes that he is still
active in Summer’s Best Two Weeks
Ministries, a summer camp on Lake Gloria
outside Boswell, Pennsylvania. Next summer
the camp will relocate to Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, where it is renovating Bethco
Pines, a beautiful natural property that was
used by Bethlehem Steel management
employees and their families.
1 966 Elton R Richards (M) was
the baccalaureate speaker at Lenoir-Rhyne
College in Hickory, North Carolina, in
May. Richards is a retired Lutheran pastor
from Pennsylvania.
Charles S. Weaver (B) writes, “Having
been privileged to provide written input to
the PTS Presidential Selection Committee
and having served as an academic representa¬
tive at the inauguration of the president of
St. Andrews College last year, I rejoice in the
arrival of your new president. Due to family
and job commitments I cannot be there with
you, but I am there in thoughts and spirit.”
His email address is c.s.weaver@att.net.
1967 J. Kent Bull (B, '67M) is the
new pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in
Montgomery, Alabama, a congregation of
the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. His
email address is drjkbull@charter.net.
Kent I. Groff's (B) fourth book,
What Would I Believe If I Didn’t Believe
Anything? A Handbook for Spiritual
Orphans , was published by Jossey-Bass in
early 2004. Groff has moved from director
to founding mentor of Oasis Ministries for
24 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
SA take a bow
Virgil L. Jones ('54B) was honored by the Presbytery of
Detroit and the City of Detroit for 50 years of exemplary service,
including 35 as university minister at United Campus Christian
Ministry at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His
"ministry on an escalator" reached students, faculty, and staff,
including aid often requested by the university's presidents to
help them think biblically and theologically about the issues.
Henry Bucher ('62B), chaplain and associate professor of
humanities, received Austin College's Excellence inTeaching and
Campus Leadership Award in June. The award recognizes the
fundamental importance of the quality of teaching in the educa¬
tional process and seeks to honor a person who has made a
distinct difference in the teaching climate in areas such as class¬
room teaching, campus leadership, pioneering pedagogy, and
instructional support. Bucher, who joined the Austin College
community in 1985, retired at the close of the school year in
May and was granted emeritus faculty status.
John R. "Pete" Richardson ('68B), chief of chaplains in the
Virginia-Maryland Health Care System, was honored with the
Secretary's Award for Excellence for his work as supervisory
chaplain. The United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs gives
this national award to chaplains
who are recognized for excel¬
lence in special categories.
Richardson, chief of pastoral care
service at the Baltimore, Perry
Point, and Loch Raven sites, was
acknowledged as the outstanding
supervisory chaplain of the year.
He is a certified mediator, a mem¬
ber of the City of Havre de Grace
Ethics Committee, an advisor to
the Harford County Board of
Ethics, and an area representa¬
tive on the national Chaplain
Field Leadership Council.
Kathleen M. O'Connor ('84D), the William Marcellus
McPheeters Professor of OldTestament at ColumbiaTheological
Seminary, has been named a Henry Luce Fellow for 2004-2005
by the Association ofTheological Schools. She will receive a
grant to support her study of the Book of Jeremiah in a project
titled "The Moral Formation of the Community after Disaster."
Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi ('90M, '99D), associate professor
of world Christianity at ColumbiaTheological Seminary,
has been selected by the Association ofTheological Schools
to receive a LillyTheological Scholars Grant for his project,
"The Global Christianity Project: Movement, Growth, and
Vitality of the Christian Religion." The research/audio visual
project examines the demographic transformations of the
Christian religion on the basis of their historical, regional,
and theological developments.
John Kiser ('98B) was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for
ministry in combat after a year in Iraq with the 28th Combat
Support Hospital inTikrit and Baghdad.
Darrell L. Armstrong ('99B) is the 2004 recipient ofThe
Harrington Prize. Established by ColumbiaTheological
Seminary, Peachtree Presbyterian Church, and the Presbyterian
College, The Harrington Prize recognizes individuals "in the
early stages of their careers in Christian ministry who have
demonstrated exemplary preach¬
ing, evangelism, and community
service and show promise for
future contributions to Christian
ministry." The prize honors the
memory and contributions of W.
Frank Harrington, former minister
of Peachtree Presbyterian Church.
Armstrong, who is pastor of
Shiloh Baptist Church inTrenton,
New Jersey, will serve as a
distinguished visitor and lecturer
at the three sponsoring institu¬
tions and will receive a $25,000
cash stipend.
Gregory Ellison ('02B) was honored with the Fruit of the
Holy Ministry Award by the Granville Academy ofTrenton Inc.
at its 21st annual black-tie graduation dinner and celebration
in April. He was honored for outstanding achievements in his
professional field and for his dedication to serving the commu¬
nity in which he lives. Ellison is a candidate for the Ph.D. in
practical theology at Princeton Seminary. He is also pastor
of youth ministries at St. James United Methodist Church in
Kansas City, Missouri.
Spiritual Development. He continues to
be a spiritual director and leader of retreats
and workshops.
Earle Wilson (M) was the speaker at
Southern Wesleyan University’s graduation
in May. He is the general superintendent of
the South Central Administrative Area of the
Wesleyan Church.
Robert Russell Hann (B)
serves as minister of the First Presbyterian
Church of Chili, New York.
Margaret GrayTowne (e) has written
Honest to Genesis, A Biblical and Scientific
Challenge to Creationism (Publish America,
2003), which integrates the biblical creation
accounts with modern evolutionary theory. It
covers both the scientific and the theological
dimensions of this subject, “which continues
to erupt in the culture from courtroom to
classroom to living room.’’ Gray Towne
teaches in the Philosophy Department of the
University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
! 969 George Clayton Ames III (B)
serves as minister of Arch Street Presbyterian
Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His
email address is amesgc3@aol.com.
inSpire *25
summer/fall 2004
Melchior Van Hattem (M)
writes, “After retiring as pastor emeritus of
Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, Community
Church, I studied a variety of worship ser¬
vices and consulted. In March 2004 I trained
at [the Seminary’s] Con Ed program to be an
interim minister.”
In April, X. Peter Wernett (B) was named
president of Percept Group Inc. in Rancho
Santa Margarita, California. Percept is the
largest provider of community demographic
and religious-based information to churches
in the United States. Wernett has been
a principal of Percept and senior vice presi¬
dent of client development since 1990.
He lives with his wife, Suzanne, in Mission
Viejo, California.
James L. Resseguie (B)
has published his third book, Spiritual
Landscape: Images of the Spiritual Life in
the Gospel of Luke (Hendrickson, 2004).
He is the J. Russell Bucher Professor of
New Testament at Winebrenner Theological
Seminary in Findlay, Ohio.
Arthur E. Sundstrom (B, '80P)
continues to serve as first vice chair of the
board of directors of the Board of Pensions
(PCUSA). He also leads a special task
force that produced the report “Clergy
Recruitment and Retention.”
Dianna Pohlman Bell (B),
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of
Rutherford, New Jersey, retired in April after
serving the congregation for the last seven
years. She was also the first female military
chaplain in the United States armed forces
and served in the United States Navy for
three years.
Barbara Chaapel (B) is a member of the
Presbyteries Cooperative Committee, the
group responsible for writing and adminis¬
tering ordination exams to Presbyterian can¬
didates for ministry, and has recently been
elected to chair its Theology Task Group.
James L. "Jay" Hudson (B), formerly
coexecutive of the Synod of Lincoln Trails,
was named president and chief executive
officer of the Presbyterian Investment and
Loan Program in September 2003.
26 • inSpire
Thomas K.Tewell (B), pastor of the Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York
City, was the baccalaureate speaker at Grove
City College’s 124th commencement cere¬
monies in May.
Kingdom, and Europe, and had support
from the World Council of Churches, the
Middle East Council of Churches, and the
All Africa Conference of Churches. ▼
1974 After 13 years (1990-2003) as
pastor at Advent Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Upper Arlington, Ohio, William
A. Hartfelder (B) is now senior pastor
of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Westerville, Ohio. He also serves as ecumeni¬
cal officer with the Southern Ohio Synod
(ELCA), and is a member of the Synod
Council. Hartfelder received a Lilly
Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant for a
three-month sabbatical in 2001 that includ¬
ed two weeks in Turkey and two months
in residence at the Collegio San Anselmo,
a Benedictine monastery on the Aventine
Hill overlooking the Tiber River in Rome,
Italy. He was recently invited to participate
in the “Pastor Theologian” program of the
Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton.
His email address is revwah50@aol.com.
Michael Livingston (B, '91M), third
from right in the photo above, is executive
director of the International Council of
Community Churches. Along with other
church leaders, he met with United Nations
Secretary General Kofi Annan in May urging
the U.N. to take a significant role in Iraq by
stressing that international involvement was
Iraq’s only chance for lasting peace and secu¬
rity. The delegation included church leaders
from the United States, Canada, the United
Paul Moessner (B) received a D.Min.
degree in congregational renewal from
Luther Seminary in May. He is senior pastor
of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in
Columbia, Missouri, where he has resided
for the past 17 years.
Aristides S. Varrias (M) graduated in
January from Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki in northern Greece with a
Th.D. He teaches theology and sculpture.
Robert R. Kopp (B) has pub¬
lished Fifieen Secrets for Life and Ministry
(Impact Christian Books). In this tell-all
book, Kopp “steps out of the box to
share 15 secrets for remaining faithful
in ecclesiastical and secular cultures hostile
to Christianity as personified in Jesus and
prescribed in the Bible.”
Michael J. O'Brien (D) serves as pasror
of Colesville Presbyterian Church in
Silver Spring, Maryland. His email address
is pastorob@earthlink.ner.
David Thorp (B), is associate director and
director of evangelization at the Spiritual Life
Center of Marian Community in Medway,
Massachusetts. Marian Community is a pri¬
vate association of the Christian Faithful in
the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
His email address is thorpdm@comcast.net.
summer/fall 2004
Class notes
HRBBBMUflWHninraMRSiiHBSBIK
Are you surfing the web?
You can now submit your class note on the web! Keep us informed by visiting our
alumni/ae web site at:
http://www.ptsem.edu/bond/submitnotes.htm
Richard L. Sheffield (B) writes, “I was
admitted to the degree Doctor of Ministry at
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
on May 23.”
Bob Andrews (B), pastor of
Grove Presbyterian Church in Danville,
Pennsylvania, was the only recipient from
Pennsylvania to receive a three-month
sabbatical grant from the Louisville Institute
in Kentucky as part of its 2004 Sabbatical
Grant for Pastoral Leaders program. As
his sabbatical project, titled “Working,”
Andrews interviewed fellow 1978 PTS
classmates to find out how they got to
where they are today, with what help, and
what their plans are over the next 20 years.
Larry R. Kalajainen (M) was recently
installed as senior pastor and teacher at the
First Parish Church (UCC) in Brunswick,
Maine. Kalajainen completed a nine-year
tenure as senior pastor of the American
Church in Paris in June 2003. For the past
three years, he has been part of the “Pastor
Theologian” program sponsored by the
Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton.
▼
Thomas Samuel (M) serves as Bishop of
the Madhya Kerala Diocese of the Church ol
South India. Fie was recently elected secre¬
tary of the Nilackel St. Thomas Ecumenical
Trust. His email address is bishopthomas-
samuel@yahoo.com.
1979 i n March Dennis Dewey (B),
an internationally acclaimed storyteller and
dramatist, gave a free public performance,
“In the Beginning, Toward the Middle, and
All the Way to the End: Stories from Genesis
to Revelation,” at the Redeemer Lutheran
Church in Plattsburgh, New York. Dewey
has performed at the National Storytelling
Festival, the Joseph Campbell Festival, the
Greenbelt (United Kingdom) Festival, and
on national television, sponsored by the
National Bible Association. He has also led
seminars and workshops in churches, semi¬
naries, and universities all over the world.
Debra Shevlin Henning (B) is pastor
of Ormond Beach Presbyterian Church in
Ormond Beach, Florida. Her email address
is henning@atlantic.net.
Patrick Mecham (B) has accepted a call
to serve as head of staff at the First
Presbyterian Church of Elko, Nevada.
980 James E. Brazell (B) has been
serving since November 2003 as pastor of
Sharonville Presbyterian Church in
Sharonville, Ohio. He also serves on the
Cincinnati Presbytery Mission Committee.
His email address is jebrazell@yahoo.com.
Brad Calhoun (B) began serving in April
as interim pastor of San Marino Community
Church (PCUSA) in San Marino, California.
Edward Duffy (B) is the newly called
minister of the First Presbyterian Church ol
Fairfield, Connecticut. He previously served
lor 10 years at the First Congregational
Church of Litchfield.
1981 Hoyt A. Byrum (B) received
a D.Min. from Reformed Theological
Seminary in Orlando, Florida, in December.
His dissertation topic was “Stewardship:
An Educational Approach.” He is presently
the executive pastor for Suntree United
Methodist Church in Melbourne, Florida.
Bart Ehrman (B, '85D) lectured on
the topic “Lost Christianities: The Battles
for Scripture and the Faiths We Never
Knew” at the University of North Carolina
(UNC)-Asheville’s Reuter Center in
April. Ehrman is chair of the UNC— Chapel
Hill Department of Religious Studies, and
has appeared on the Arts and Entertainment
Channel, the History Channel, CNN,
and in a recent interview on NPR’s
“Fresh Air” to discuss his latest book,
Lost Christianities , which describes early
Christian sectarian movements.
Ronald H. Radden (B) is associate
director of planned gifts for the Alzheimer’s
Association, which is based in Chicago.
His email address is rhradden@mac.com.
982 Thomas E. Clifton (P) retired
as president of Central Baptist Theological
Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, in
December 2003.
wm
1: M i. WM
Members of the Class of 1979 who attended their 25th reunion in May
inSpire • 27
Photo: Leigh Photo & Imaging
summer/fall 2004
Weddings
jT &Births
Weddings
Deadra Bachorick Johns ('84B) and Charles Ashton, July 31, 2004
Lynda Shingledecker and James Wheeler ('91 B), April 17, 2004
Courtney Mills Jones ('03E) and Stephen William Willis, May 22, 2004
KiranYoung (M.Div. student) and Alexander Wimberly ('03B), May 8, 2004
Births
Sophia to Lynne ('95E) and Daniel ('96B) McQuown on July 13, 2003
Beverly Gisela to Emily Berman ('97B) and Paul D'Andrea on November 3, 2003
Zoe Kim to Lydia Kim and Alexander Hwang ('98B) on May 22, 2004
Zachary William to Alison andThomas A. ('99B, E) Brown on April 8, 2004
Lydia Mayda to Joanne Rodriguez ('99B, '02M) and Wilfredo Garcia ('03B, E)
on May 20, 2004
Abigail Louisa to Lori ('00B) and Bryan ('98B) Bass-Riley on May 1, 2004
Joseph Daniel to Ellen Y. and Joseph H. ('02B) Lee on April 3, 2004
Samuel Robert to Jen andTodd ('03B) Stavrakos on May 27, 2004
1983 Anita Bell (B), the Presbyterian
Coalition’s former comoderator, was the con¬
ference preacher at the Presbyterian Lay
Committee’s annual Faith and Life
Conference, held at Grove City College in
June. She is currently working on a disserta¬
tion for a doctor of letters degree, seeking
effective ways for Christians to declare God’s
truth in a rapidly changing culture.
Robert J. Cromwell (B) became pastor
of Faith Presbyterian Church in Raytown,
Missouri, in May, after serving seven years
as pastor of Ruskin Heights Presbyterian
Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
Aurelio A. Garcia (B, '89D), preached
at a service for English-speaking worshipers
at a Presbyterian church in Old San Juan,
Puerto Rico, when the Presbyteries
Cooperative Committee met in San Juan
in April.
David C. Marx (P) was honorably
retired by Mission Presbytery on
December 31, 2003. His email address
is d.marx@sbcglobal.net.
Marvin A. McMickle (P) has just pub¬
lished a new book, Battling Prostate Cancer:
Getting from “ Why Me” to “ What Next”
(Judson Press). His book provides men
with sound advice — both medical and
spiritual. He shares the latest medical
research on prostate cancer while challenging
readers to address issues of fear, denial,
and embarrassment.
Judie Ritchie (B) serves as pastor of disci-
pleship at an Evangelical Covenant Church
congregation in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is
taking classes in marriage and family therapy.
Neil Smith (B) gave the opening prayer
for the United States Senate on April 27.
He has served as pastor of Faith Presbyterian
Church (EPC) in Kingstowne, Virginia,
since 1997. He is currently a D.Min. candi¬
date at Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.
Garrett Yamada (b) was appointed pastor
of Sturge Presbyterian Church in San Mateo,
California, and was installed on March 21.
1 984 Wesley D. Avram (B) gave
the final lecture of the seventh annual
Yale Divinity School Speaker Series
at the Congregational Church of New
Canaan, Connecticut, in March. His topic
was “Of Dreams, Duty, and Diligence:
Rethinking Faith and Work.” Avram is
assistant professor of communication arts
at Yale Divinity School.
Gerrit S. Dawson (B) serves as
copastor of the First Presbyterian Church
of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He recently
published Jesus Ascended: The Meaning
of Christ’s Continuing Incarnation
(London: T&T Clark International,
Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian
and Reformed Publishing).
Bruce (B, '85M) and Carolyn
('85B) Winfrey Gillette will serve
as copastors, beginning in August,
of Limestone Presbyterian Church
in Wilmington, Delaware.
Jim McCloskey (B), president of
Centurion Ministries, an organization he
founded in Princeton, New Jersey, that seeks
justice for innocent prisoners, reports that
in the past 13 months the organization
has freed seven innocent men and is now
working to free 29 others.
1985 Bill Carter (B) and the
Presbybop Quartet led the music at the
evening worship service on June 28 and
played a free jazz concert at the Second
Presbyterian Church of Richmond on June
29, during the PCUSA’s General Assembly
meeting in Richmond, Virginia.
Donald H. Fox (B) writes, “After my
pastorate of 14 years at St. John’s United
Church of Christ in La Crosse, Wisconsin,
I decided to stay here at least another year
and do a CPE residency. I think I have
what Sinclair Lewis in Main Street calls
‘The Village Virus.’ Send Dr. Noel Anderson
for help!’’
Julie Ruth Harley (B) serves as minister
of membership and discipleship at Union
Church of Hinsdale, Illinois. Her email
address is julie.ruth@comcast.net.
John E. Harris (B) received the D.Min.
from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
on May 25. His doctoral paper was titled
“Guidance and Experience in Liturgical
Prayer as an Element of Personal and
Communal Worship in the Reformed
Tradition.” He continues to serve as pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church in
Buckhannon, West Virginia, and special
presbyter for quadrant ministries in
28 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
Quadrant Two of West Virginia Presbytery.
He has also been teaching in the Religion
and Philosophy Department of Davis and
Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia,
as adjunct faculty.
Stephen James Heinzel-Nelson (B),
pastor of Allentown Presbyterian Church
in Allentown, Pennsylvania, began a three-
month sabbatical in Scotland at the end
of June. As part of a pulpit exchange with
John Fraser, a pastor from Scotland, Heinzel-
Nelson will preach to Fraser’s congregation
for the first half of his sabbatical. He will
return to Allentown for the second half
of his sabbatical.
986 Audrey Schindler (B) has
begun a new position as dean of Ormond
College, Theological Hall, the Uniting
Church Seminary in Melbourne, Australia.
Corinne H.S. Wong (B) is a candidate
for the Ph.D. degree in New Testament
studies at the University of Pretoria in
Pretoria, South Africa. Her email address
is whchi9l6@earthlink.net. Wong lives
in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Christopher R Momany (B)
has recently become a writer for the Daily
Bible Study (DBS) resource published by The
United Methodist Publishing House. DBS
features daily Scripture readings and brief
exegetical reflection for serious lay students
of the Bible. Momany’s first series explored
the pastoral epistles. Future studies will
address selected texts from the Hebrew
prophets, as well as material from Romans.
Momany is the chaplain of Adrian College
in Adrian, Michigan. T
Jeff Siemon (B) has accepted a call to
serve as digital resources librarian at Fuller
Theological Seminary in Pasadena,
California. He also serves on the Presbyteries
Cooperative Committee of the PCUSA.
Gary Ziccardi (B) has returned from duty
in Kuwait to resume his work at Seymour
Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North
Carolina. His wife, Rosalind ('87B) , serves
as interim pastor at Pinewood Presbyterian
Church, also in Goldsboro.
988 Carl Wayne Holz (M) received
a Ph.D. degree from Pensacola Christian
College in 1995. He retired from the army
in 1998 and now focuses his attention
on Bible college and seminary development
both in the United States and abroad. This
worldview resulted in his two-year appoint¬
ment in 2000 as trustee and North American
director for library acquisitions for Sofia
Bible University in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2000
he was awarded an honorary Doctor of
Fiterature degree from Sofia Bible University
and that eastern European influence resulted
in the Central Christian University awarding
him an honorary Doctor of Religious
Fetters degree in 2001. With that came
an honorary appointment by which Holz
became a fellow of Christian Fellowship
International in 2001. In April 2004, he was
awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity
degree from the South Florida Bible College
and Theological Seminary.
Both he and his wife would like to hear
from their friends (call 813-948-6625 or
email silverstarpurpleheart@yahoo.com).
Andre Resner Jr. (B, '98D) has been
appointed professor of homiletics and litur¬
gies at Hood Fheological Seminary in
Salisbury, North Carolina. His recent book
Just Preaching: Prophetic Voices for Economic
Justice (Chalice Press, 2003) was named
one of the top ten books of 2003 by the
Academy of Parish Clergy.
William J. Vaus (B) is president of
Will Vaus Ministries, in conjunction with
Rathvinden Ministries in Ireland and
Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S.
Fewis. His first book, Mere Theology:
A Guide to the Thought of C.S. Lewis ,
was published in 2004 by InterVarsity Press.
His email address is will@willvaus.com.
1990 Eunsik Cho (B) has completed
a four-year term as a mission coworker of the
PCUSA at the Divinity School of Silliman
University in the Philippines. He currently
teaches at a Presbyterian college and theolog¬
ical seminary in Seoul, Korea. His email
address is jcworldwide@yahoo.com.
KamauT. Kenyatta (B) teaches
African and African American studies
at William Paterson University in
Wayne, New Jersey. His email address
is donedeal@melleniaisp.com.
Wanda L. Wiedman (M) was recently
called as pastor of Good Shepherd Moravian
Church in New Hartford, New York. She
previously served for 20 years as a chaplain
in the United States Navy.
i Tia Booth McCoun (B)
has been named development coordinator
and publicist by American Baptist National
Ministries, where she will work with the
development team to increase revenue,
establish partnerships with other organiza¬
tions, and strengthen relationships among
American Baptist organizations. She
also serves as publicist for Judson Press
and its authors.
Ida M. Wooden (P) joined the staff of
West Presbyterian Church in Wilmington,
Delaware, as the director of community out¬
reach and Christian education in March.
Her email address is iwooden@westpc.org.
i 992 Eric M. Beckham (B) serves
as pastor of Clear View Baptist Church in
Newark, New Jersey.
1 993 Joy E. Abdul-Mohan (E) is
principal of St. Andrew’s Theological College
in Trinidad and Tobago. She is also the
Presbyterian chaplain for the Trinidad and
Tobago prisons, serves as chaplain of
Naparima Girls High School, and is modera¬
tor of the Caribbean and North America
Area Council of the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches. “I know it sounds like
a lot for one person to do,” she writes,
inSpire • 29
summer/fall 2004
“bur that is part of our culture. You find that
a lot falls on a few because of the lack of
personnel. We have about 30 ministers
serving 120 churches.”
After four-and-one-half years as associate at
Korean Presbyterian Church of Minnesota,
Jin S. Kim (B) became organizing pastor
of the Church of All Nations (PCUSA) in
Minneapolis on January 4, an evangelical
multicultural congregation. He continues as
president of Presbyterians for Renewal and as
president of Korean Adoptees Ministry. Kim
preached in June at the General Assembly in
Richmond, Virginia. His wife, Soon Pac
('97B), continues to lead the children’s min¬
istry, and their children Claire Nicea (5) and
Austin Athenasius (3) remain orthodox!
Nancy Young (B) has changed positions,
moving from Memorial Presbyterian Church
in Midland, Michigan, to Trinity Lutheran
Church (ELCA) in Midland, where she
is associate pastor. She received her D.Min.
in preaching from McCormick Theological
Seminary, on May 8. Her husband,
David ('87B), is pastor of Chapel Lane
Presbyterian Church in Midland.
1 994 David W. Cabush (B, '95M)
was ordained on March 27 as an Episcopal
priest. He is senior associate at St. Peter’s
Church in Morristown, New Jersey.
Pamela Kling (B) is
currently working for Paramount Pictures
in Hollywood, California. Her email address
is perkapita@sbcglobal.net.
Robert MacSwain (B) writes, “After
almost three years as the assistant rector
of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kinston,
North Carolina, I am now working as the
summer interim priest at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church in Beaufort, North Carolina.
In September I will move to England to
begin doctoral studies at the University
of Durham. My research will focus on the
theology of Austin Farrer (1904-1968),
to whom I was introduced by Professor
Diogenes Allen while at PTS!
“Earlier this year SCM Press published
a book titled, Grammar and Grace:
Reformulations of Aquinas and Wittgenstein ,
which I coedited with Professor Jeffrey Stout
of Princeton University. It is a festschrifi
for the late Victor Preller, professor emeritus
in the Religion Department of Princeton
University and a priest of the Oratory of the
Good Shepherd.’’
996 Trent A. Hancock (B) was
installed as designated associate pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church in Morrisville,
Pennsylvania, on May 2.
Daniel J. McQuown (B) serves as
chaplain of Albion College in Albion,
Michigan. He and his wife, Lynne ('95E),
have two daughters, Sophia (11 months)
and Haley (four).
Shelly Rambo (B) recently moved to
Boston, where she will be assistant professor
of theology at Boston University’s School
ofTheology. She received her Ph.D. from
Emory University in August.
Timothy Dobe (B) is nearing
the completion of his degree in comparative
religion at Harvard Divinity School in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. His email address
is tdobe@hds.harvard.edu.
Whitney Gillis (B) serves as a hospital
chaplain at Abington Memorial Hospital
in Abington, Pennsylvania. Her email
address is wgillis@amh.org.
Stephen T. Huston (B) is pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church of Port Jervis, New
York. His email address is huston@fpcpj.org.
Jung-Sook Lee (D) is assistant
professor of church history at Torch Trinity
Graduate School ofTheology in Seoul,
Korea. His email address is jslee@ttgst.ac.kr
or jsl517@hanmail.net.
Paul C.H. Lim's (M) new book, In Pursuit
of Purity, Unity, and Liberty: Richard Baxter’s
Puritan Ecclesiology in Its Seventeenth-Century
Context , was published in April by Brill
Academic Publishers as part of the Studies
in the History of Christian Traditions
series. He is assistant professor of theology
at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. His
email address is pchlim@gcts.edu.
Heather L. Shoup (B) is the full-time
worship producer for the United Methodist
Church of the Resurrection in Leawood,
Kansas. She writes, “I’m excited that God
has brought my two passions, Jesus and
video production, together to do church
in the 21st century!” Her email address
is hlshoup@yahoo.com.
Steven D. Baker (B) serves
as associate minister of Union Baptist
Church in Trenton, New Jersey. He is
also associate director for public relations
at the New Jersey Education Association,
which is located in Trenton, too. His email
address is sbaker@njea.org.
Bryan Bass-Riley (B) has accepted
a position as a spiritual support counselor
with Samaritan Hospice in Marlton,
New Jersey, after nearly two years with
the Hospice of Philadelphia. He is also
a pastoral counselor in training in the
American Association of Pastoral Counselors
and is practicing pastoral counseling under
supervision working toward certification
and state licensure. He writes, “Lori rooB)
and I have been married for five years
and have two beautiful daughters. We
live in Paulsboro, New Jersey, where she
pastors Christ Presbyterian Church of
Greenwich Township.”
RufusT. Burton (B) serves as pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church in
Martinsburg, West Virginia. His email
address is pastorburtonfpc@wvdsl.net.
Mark H. Ford (B) serves as pastor of the
United Church of Philip in Philip, South
Dakota, and the First Presbyterian Church
of Interior in Interior, South Dakota. His
email address is psalmlOO@gwtc.net.
Alexander Hwang (B) has completed
his comprehensive exams for the Ph.D.
in historical theology and earned the
advanced diploma in medieval studies from
Fordham University in New York City.
He is currently writing his dissertation
on Prosper of Aquitaine, and is enjoying
time with his newborn daughter and living
in Greenwich Village.
30 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
John Kiser (B) graduated in May with
the Doctor of Ministry degree from Oblate
School ol Theology in San Antonio, Texas,
in a program sponsored by the Army
Medical Command.
Lamell McMorris (B), founder and CEO
of Perennial Strategy Group in Washington,
D.C., has announced that an organizing
committee has launched Perennial Strategy
PAC (PS PAC), an independent, nonpartisan
political action committee that intends
to support candidates for public office at
all levels of government. They recently spon¬
sored a young professional’s event featuring
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
in Chicago, Illinois, and hosted a fundraising
dinner honoring Congressman Jerry Lewis
(R-CA-40), chairman of the House Defense
Appropriations Committee, in Washington.
Robert Paul Seesengood (M) complet¬
ed his Ph.D. in New Testament and early
Christian literature this spring at Drew
University. He writes, “Amanda, Abigail, and
I will remain in Chatham, New Jersey, for at
least another year. I will be adjunct professor
of New Testament for 2004—2005 at Drew
University Theological School.”
Jeanne M. (Austin) Bautista
(B) has changed denominations from
Presbyterian to Unitarian Universalist. Her
email address is bluejeanne73@aol.com.
Kyle Powderly (B) serves as interim direc¬
tor of education ministries at Brown
Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian Church
in Baltimore, Maryland. His email address
is kyle.powderly@comcast.net.
J Tim Hartman (B) was recently
called as pastor of the Gen X new church
development in Harford County, Maryland,
with Baltimore Presbytery. His email address
is timothymhartman@hotmail.com.
Elizabeth D. McLean (B) has accepted
a new call as associate pastor of Christian
education and small group ministry
at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church
in Severna Park, Maryland.
Samuel Park (B) has been appointed
as campus staff at the University of
Chicago, working with Intervarsity
Christian Fellowship. His email address
is sam_part@ivstaff.org.
Jay E. Blankespoor (B)
serves as pastor of Boston Square
Christian Reformed Church in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. His email
address is jaybscrc@iserv.net.
Lois Juliana M. Claassens (D) began a
new position on August 1 as assistant profes¬
sor of Old Testament at Baptist Theological
Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.
Elizabeth Vander Haagen (B) is
a pastoral resident at the Church of the
Servant Christian Reformed Church in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her email address
is evanderhaagen@churchoftheservant.org.
2.002 Becki Barrett (B) serves
as associate pastor of congregational life
at Sammamish Presbyterian Church
in Sammamish, Washington. Her email
address is beckibarrett@comcast.net.
Kathy L. Dawson (D) has been appointed
assistant professor of Christian education
at Columbia Theological Seminary in
Decatur, Georgia, and will begin teaching
there in the fall. She had been assistant
professor of Christian education for
children and youth at Union Theological
Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian
Education in Richmond, Virginia. ▼
Katherine C. Rick-Miller (B) has
accepted a call as pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church Falls of Schuylkill
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her email
address is katherine@fallspres.com.
Richard H. White (B, '03M) serves
as chaplain at Princeton Healthcare System
in Princeton, New Jersey. His email address
is rhwhite46@earthlink.net.
2003 Chad R. Abbott (B) and
Everett Mitchell ('03B, M) have com¬
piled a collection of essays “calling the
church to create an ethos of peace in the
midst of a world bent on war.” In their view,
in the wake of the current war in Iraq, local
religious congregations have remained virtu¬
ally silent in their opposition to war as
a means toward effective ends. “Local
congregations are finding themselves at
a loss for resources and materials to guide
them through a variety of social realities
related to politics, faith, and war,” Abbott
writes. In Breaking Silence: Pastoral
Approaches for Creating an Ethos of Peace
(Pilgrim’s Process Inc., 2004), a panel of
clergy, scholars, peace activists, and lay
people provide resources and a study guide
for pastors and local congregations dealing
with issues related to war. PTS alums and
faculty who were involved with this project
include: Darren Burris ('03B), Neal
Christie ('97m), David A. Davis ('86B,
'02D), Christopher Hays ('03B), Stacy
Martin ('03B), Ajit Prasadam (Ph.D.
candidate), Luis Rivera-Pagan, professor
of ecumenics and mission, and Kathleen
McVey, professor of church history. ▼
Breaking
Silence
Pastoral Approaches for
Allison J. (Herman) Beaulieu
serves as a staff chaplain at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Becky K. Capps (B) is associate minister
for pastoral care and Christian education
at Westminster Presbyterian Church in
inSpire • 31
summer/fall 2004
Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her email
address is beckycapps@bellsouth.net.
Dana Eglinton (B) was installed
as pastor of Jacksonville Presbyterian
Church in Bordentown Township,
New Jersey, in March.
Jacqueline B. Glass (B) coedited her
second book, Those Preaching Women,
Volume 4 (Judson Press, 2004). She coedited
her first book, Fire in the Well: Sermons by
Ella and Henry Mitchell , in 2003 (Judson
Press). Glass is an adjunct professor at the
College of New Rochelle in New York.
Jaehyun Kim (D) is director of the
Korea Institute of Advanced Theological
Studies and director of Boondang Central
House in Seoul, Korea. His email address
is jkimerigena@hanmail.net.
Virginia W. Landgraf (D) has
a new job as an indexer-analyst at the
American Theological Library Association
in Chicago, Illinois. Her email address
is kaencat@hotmail.com.
Mamoe Mamoe (M) teaches
at Kanana Fou Theological Seminary
in American Samoa. His email address
is mamoes@hotmail.com.
Mark A. Torres (B) serves as pastor of
community action and spiritual development
at the First Covenant Church in Oakland,
California. His email address is
torres.mark@oaklandfcc.org.
K.C.Wahe (B) was ordained on May
23 and was installed on June 6 as associate
pastor for youth and families at Carmichael
Presbyterian Church in Carmichael,
California. Pictured from left to right are:
Keith DeVries ('82B), K.C.Wahe, and
William Craig ('63B). ▼
Raewynne J. Whiteley (D) serves
as vicar of Trinity Episcopal “Old Swedes”
Church in Swedesboro, New Jersey. She
recently coedited a book, Get Up Off Your
Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog (Cowley
Publications, 2003), with all royalties going
to AIDS education in Africa. In May,
she was the Frank Woods Fellow in residence
at Trinity College Theological School
in Melbourne, Australia, and delivered
the Barry Marshall Memorial Lecture, “Woo
Me, Sister; Move Me, Brother! What Does
Pop Culture Have to Do with Preaching?”
Alexander Wimberly (B) was
installed as the pastor of the Honey Brook
Presbyterian Church in Honey Brook,
Pennsylvania, on October 26. He and his
wife, Kiran Young (M.Div. student), live
in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania, in the heart
of Amish country.
Herand Ron Zargarian (B) was
ordained as a minister of the Associate
Reformed Presbyterian Church on January
1 1 in the Church of the Atonement in
Silver Spring, Maryland. He serves as associ¬
ate pastor of the Iranian Christian Church
of Washington, D.C.
Carolyn Browning (B) is cur¬
rently enrolled in a CPE program at Yuma
Regional Medical Center in Yuma, Arizona.
Jeff Bryan (B) has accepted a call as
associate pastor for campus ministry
at the First Presbyterian Church in Ann
Arbor, Michigan.
Glenn A. Chestnutt (M) is enrolled
in a Ph.D. program at New College, the
University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. His
email address is g_chestnutt@hotmail.com.
Sinai Chung (B) is a Ph.D. student in
Christian education at Garrett Evangelical
Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Dwight Davis (B, E) serves as interim
pastor of the First Baptist Church of
Hightstown, New Jersey.
Daniel J. del Rosario (B) has
accepted a position as youth coordinator
at Faith United Methodist Church in
Issaquah, Washington.
Julia Dunson (B) has accepted a one-year
pastoral internship with Rivermont
Presbyterian Church in Chester, Virginia.
Chip Fields (M) serves as a U.S. Army
chaplain and ethics instructor at Aberdeen
Proving Ground in Maryland. His email
address is chip.fields@us.army.mil.
Wes Goldsberry (B) has been appointed
as a member of the Religious Studies
Department at St. Andrew’s School in
Middletown, Delaware. He begins teaching
there in August.
Bethany Hanke (B) has accepted a posi¬
tion as education project manager for the
International Justice Mission, a Christian
ministry she describes as “composed of
human rights professionals (lawyers, criminal
investigators, and educators) who, empow¬
ered by prayer and grounded in the biblical
mandate to rescue the oppressed and bring
justice to the perpetrators and freedom to
the victims of abuses such as sex trafficking,
bonded labor, and illegal seizure of land.”
Nathan Hart (B) has accepted a call
as director of Christian education for
Brookville Reformed Church in Brookville,
New York. He is also chaplain for The
New York Fellowship in New York City.
Kelly Hough (B) has accepted a call
as director of youth ministries at the
Congregational Church of New Canaan
in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Richard Hutton (B) has accepted a call
as director of youth ministry at the Third
Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia.
Steven M. Jewell (B) will begin a new
position in October as pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church of Arkport, New York.
David D. McMillan (M) serves as
a U.S. Army duty chaplain teaching ethics
at the Army Chemical School at Fort
Leonard Wood, Missouri. His email address
is bigmac077@aol.com.
Susan Richardson (B) serves as a part-
time chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital
in Trenton, New Jersey.
32 • inSpire
Photo: Joshua Sutherlun
investing in ministry
Dance, Wherever You May Be
by Deadra Bachorik Ashton
What do you say to a parent who has just lost a child? How do you help a community
mourn and then rebuild when a major part of the town has been swept away by flood
waters? What can you do to help a teenager make faithful choices in the face of peer pres¬
sure? And why would anyone think that studying the writings of theologians who have
been dead for centuries, or parsing Greek verbs, could even begin to provide answers to
those questions?
Ministry is like a dance that has been going on for centuries. Part choreography and
part improvisation, the challenge of ministry is to apply a blend of ancient and modern
Christian wisdom to the realities of daily life. An accomplished dancer knows the impor¬
tance of learning the basic steps before attempting to improvise.
Princeton Seminary is one place to begin to learn the steps of ministry. And while you
may not find anything specific in Greek grammar or the worldview of a sixteenth-century theologian to comfort a bereaved parent or
guide a searching youth, studying these things is part of learning the steps in thinking theologically about the world. With a solid
foundation in the disciplines of biblical studies, theology, history, and practical theology, seminary graduates can begin to choreo¬
graph and improvise their own steps as they shape the lives God has called them to.
And what places their steps take them! You can find Princeton Seminary alumni/ae proclaiming the gospel on every inhabited con¬
tinent. President McCord used to observe that you could go to any major city in the world and hold a Princeton Seminary alumni/ae
gathering. Every year a new class of graduates goes out into the world to join the dance as they fulfill their calls to ministry, not only
in the pulpit, but in hospitals and on military bases, in classrooms and courtrooms, in corporate boardrooms and government offices.
Through your generosity you become a partner in teaching the basic steps of ministry to women and men from every imaginable
background. Your investment in the life and mission of Princeton Seminary is vital not only to those who study here, but also to
those whose questions they will be called upon to answer, whose hands they will hold, with whom they will laugh and cry.
Thank you for your gifts to the Seminary. Through them you join the dance!
Deadra Bachorik Ashton is director of
planned giving.
Gifts
This list includes gifts made between
March f, 2004, and June 15, 2004.
2003-2004 Annual Fund
In Memory of
Donald L. Barker (’47B)
Willis A. Baxter (’38B)
Gloria B. Campbell
Charles T. Connor (’58B/’59M)
Philip W. Furst (’35B)
Chester A. Galloway ( 42B)
James L. Getazjr. (’49B)
Leon W. Gibson (’59D)
Robert E. Graham (’39B)
Merle S. Irwin (’42B)
Guy E. Lambert (’45B/’53M)
James E. Latham (’54B)
William F. Logan Jr. (’39B)
Dudley Loos
Esther Loos
Warren W. Ost (’51B)
W. Burney Overton (’42B)
John K. Sefcik (’53B/’68M)
In Honor/ Appreciation of
Robert W. Battles Jr. (’64M)
Thomas W. Gillespie (’54B), “minister,
pastor, president, and friend”
Judith Hartung Hockenberry (’86B)
Kenneth J. Hockenberry (’84B)
Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Hopewell,
New Jersey, Staff
Suzanne M. Hunt
Louise U. Johnson (’76B)
W. Stacy Johnson
Steven R. Matthies (’92B/’04D)
Kari Turner McClellan (’76B)
Princeton Theological Seminary
Providence Presbyterian Church, Fairfax,
Virginia, Staff
Cynthia R.P. Strickler (’86B)
Martin Tel
Richard L. Young (’89B)
2003-2004 Alumni/ae Roil Call
In Memory of
James W. Arnold ( 47b)
Richard S. Bird Sr. (’57B)
G. Chalmers Browne (’40B)
John David Burton (’45B/'51M)
Emile Cailliet
Harwood Childs
Willa Childs
Sidney R. Conger (’55B)
David L. Crawford (’47B)
Edward A. Doweyjr. (’43B)
Jacqueline F. Dunnavan
Jane Eastman
William H. Felmeth ('42B)
Susan Hall Galloway (’66E)
Donald H. Gard (’46B)
Richard C. Halverson (’42B)
Neill Q. Hamilton (’51B/’53M)
Manda D. Hughes
G. Robert Jacks (’59B)
Margaret Jones
inSpire • 33
summer/fall 2004
investing in ministry
Donald H. Juel
Hugh Thomson Kerr Jr.
Howard T. Kuist, “my teacher and
sponsor at PTS”
James E. Loder (’57B)
John A. Mackay (’ 1 5B)
James I. McCord, “without his unwaver¬
ing support I couldn't have survived”
Otto A. Piper
Edward H. Roberts (’23B/M)
John K. Sefcik (’53B/’68M)
Craig M. Sell (’02B)
M. Richard Shaull (’41 B/’46M/’59D)
Ruthanne Kirk Stauffer
R. David Steele (’55B)
Leslie B. Strader (’73B)
David A. Weadon
Peter Zimmermann (’82M)
In Honor/Appreciation of
Diogenes Allen
George R. Barr (’OOP)
David Blewett
Nancy Blewett
Sondra Lee Childers
Robert W. Dickson (’5 IB)
Jane Dempsey Douglass
Lillian Cassel Driskill (’47B)
Harry A. Freebairn (’62B/’84P)
Karlfried Froehlich
Ricarda C. Froehlich
Barbara A. Gillespie
Thomas W. Gillespie (’54B), “a great
Christian leader, educator”
George F. Gillette (’5 IB)
Scott H. Hendrix
Sang Hyun Lee
Donald Macleod (’46G)
Ulrich W. Mauser
Bruce M. Metzger (’38B/’39M), “an out¬
standing scholar, a saint of a person”
James R. Neumann (’82B)
Patricia Neumann
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary Class of
1984 Twentieth Class Reunion
Thank You— for Generations
to Come!
Princeton Seminary thanks all the
Presbyterian churches that contribute
to theTheological Education Fund
(TEF).The funds raised byTEF in 2003
totaled $2,466,218.
Since the beginning ofTEF (the denomi-
Princeton Theological Seminary
International Students, “and what they
taught me”
Princeton Theological Seminary Staff
Niles K. Reimer (’54B), “his service
in Ethiopia”
J.J.M. Roberts
Rutgers Protestant Campus Ministries
Charles A. Ryerson III
John E. Turpin (’52B)
“My experience and training at Princeton
Theological Seminary”
“My 1940-1943 years at Princeton
Theological Seminary”
2003-2004 Scholarship Fund
In Memory of
Robert C. Holland (’62B)
G. Hall Todd (’38B)
In Honor/ Appreciation of
Joan Blyth
Deena L. Candler (’8 IB)
Kenneth C. Green (’01 B)
Tassie M. Green (’01B)
Princeton Theological Seminary
Harwood and Willa Childs
Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
In Memory of
Harwood Childs
Willa Childs
In Honor/ Appreciation of
Margaret Armstrong
Richard S. Armstrong (’58B)
Class of 1954 50th
Anniversary Gift
In Memory of
James E. Latham ( 54B)
nation's only direct support of its theologi¬
cal seminaries) in 1989, the fund has raised
more than 40 million. Yet, only 21 percent
of PCUSA congregations contribute toTEF,
although many more make direct contribu-
In Honor/Appreciation of
John A. Mackay’s papers
Princeton Theological Seminary Class
of 1954
John Lafayette Herrick Memorial
Scholarship Endowment Fund
In Memory of
James I. McCord
International Students Scholarship
Endowment Fund
In Honor/ Appreciation of
Princeton Theological Seminary
International Students Association
Library Book Fund
In Memory of
James E. Loder (’57B)
Miller Chapel Restoration Project
In Memory of
Joel Mattison (’54B)
Speer Library Renovation Project
In Memory of
Donald H. Gard (’46B)
Viggo Norskov Olsen (’60M)
In Honor/ Appreciation of
James L. Carter (’66B)
Touring Choir Fund
In Honor/Appreciation of
Princeton Theological Seminary
Touring Choir
tions to individual seminaries. Because
TEF funds are shared among all ten
Presbyterian seminaries, they support
the entire theological education enterprise
in the PCUSA.
Does your congregation contribute
toTEF? If so, Princeton and our sister
seminaries thank you. If not, please call
the Office of Theological Education (888-
728-7228, ext. 5337) for more information.
34 • inSpire
Photos: Victor Mazurkiewicz
investing in ministry
summer/fall 2004
From Japan, with Love
Fred Cassell (left) and John Crossley (center)
present class gift to President Gillespie.
Overflowing Generosity from the
Class of 1954
When Bokko Tsuchiyama first traveled to the United States from his native Japan in
1939, the trip took 22 days by sea and land. In May, he returned for his 60th
Princeton Seminary reunion; this time, it took only 14 hours in the air.
The son of a pastor (also a Princeton alum), he came to America to escape Japan’s
war with China. He followed his father’s footsteps to Princeton Seminary, where he
earned his M.Div. and Th.M. degrees, and later his Ph.D.
Tsuchiyama went on to serve as a pastor and teacher in churches and colleges on
both sides of the Pacific. He established a college to train ministers and teachers,
founded a children’s research program, and worked with
.1 the Economic Social Council ol the United Nations to
8)
| raise the standard of early childhood education in devel-
* oping Asian countries.
He credits Princeton with providing the tools and cre-
j fidentials for his ministry, and remembers the scholarship
d aid he received.
O
| Bokko Tsuchiyama wanted to give something back.
Bokko Tsuchiyama When he arrived on campus in May, he presented then-
president Thomas Gillespie with a check for $100,000 to establish a named scholar¬
ship endowment fund to assist foreign national students, particularly from Japan and
other Pacific/Asian nations, to study at Princeton.
“I wanted to give something back to a place that had given me so much,” he said.
“Everything I did in my life was rooted in Princeton. For me it is a very special place,
a place that I love.”
Princeton Receives
Gifts of Paintings
More than 60 members of the Class of
1954, and almost 50 spouses, attended their
50th reunion in May — and they came bear¬
ing gifts! The class raised $356,890 to honor
their years at Princeton. It is the largest gift
ever given by a PTS class.
The gift will help fund four projects,
according to director of alumni/ae rela¬
tions/giving Steven Hamilton:
• creating a scholarship so that Princeton
students and faculty can study abroad, or, in
reverse, students and faculty from abroad
can come to Princeton to study;
• supporting the Bryant M. Kirkland
Minister of the Chapel Endowment;
• cataloguing the papers of John A.
Mackay (Princeton's president when the
Class of 1954 graduated); and
• recasting the bell in the Alexander
Hall cupola.
The steering committee for the class
gift included Fred Cassell, chair, James
Chestnutt, John Crossley, Charles
Dougherty, Conrad Massa, Eileen Moffett,
Anna Sue Reed Wilcox, and David Yeaworth.
The Class of '54's advice to other classes:
"Go and do likewise!"
Sohee Shin, the daughter of Korean artist Kwang Sung Shin, has made a generous
gift of five of her father's paintings to the Seminary. Sung Shin paints in oils, cap¬
turing the beauty of the natural world in vibrant colors. Four of the paintings hang
in the Gambrell Room in Scheide Hall, and one in the Speech Communication in
Ministry Office in Templeton Hall.
Gifts to the following scholarship endowment funds, awards, and chairs have been gratefully received in
honor/appreciation of or in memory of those for whom they are named. Others who wish to donate to these
funds are welcome to do so, with our gratitude. For more information about these funds, please contact the
Seminary Relations Office at 609-497-7750 or by email at seminary.relations@ptsem.edu.
William N. Boak Scholarship Endowment Fund
Reverend Dr. Frederick E. Christian Scholarship Endowment Fund
David Livingstone Crawford Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
John R. and Isabel Hyde Donelik Scholarship Endowment Fund
William Harte Felmeth Chair for Pastoral Theology
Reverend Dr. William H. Felmeth Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
G. Robert Jacks Scholarship Endowment Fund
Reverend Dr. Samuel Allen and Anne McMullan Jackson
Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund
Reverend Dr. Gerald R. Johnson Memorial Prize
Bryant M. Kirkland Minister of the Chapel Endowment Fund
Lawder Scholarship Endowment Fund
John S. and Mary B. Linen Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
Salvatore Migliore Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund
inSpire • 35
Photo: Leigh Photo & Imaging
summer/fall 2004
^ In Memoriam
Blessed are the dead. . . who die in the Lord.
Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their
labors, for their deeds will follow them.
Revelation 14:13
1931: William C. Thompson Sr.,
April 10, 2004, Wilmington,
North Carolina
1933: Frederic G. Appleton, March
15, 2004, Pasadena, California
Leonard S. Hogenboom,
October 8, 2003,
Orange City, Florida
John B. MacDonald, February
8, 2004, Forest Grove, Oregon
1936: Robert N. Peirce, April 1 1,
2004, Lakeland, Florida
1940: Robert G. McClure, September
2002, Lexington, Kentucky
1941: Norman S. Kindt, May 22,
2004, Langhorne, Pennsylvania
1942: Russell M. Kerr, May 1 1, 2004,
Montreat, North Carolina
1943: Michael R. Costanzo,
January 4, 2003,
Newport News, Virginia
Greer S. Imbrie, April 16,
2004, Bowling Green, Ohio
Gerald R. Johnson, May 1,
2004, Indianapolis, Indiana
1944: I rvin W. Emmons, February
2001, Allen, Texas
1945: James R. Blackwood, May 14,
2004, Sarasota, Florida
John D. Burton, May 12,
2004, Bryan, Ohio
Herbert P. Landes, April 14,
2004, Scottsdale, Arizona
1947: John R. Mecouch, April 22,
2004, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ramon Ruiz- Valera, May 15,
2004, Sacramento, Calilornia
1948: J. Pritchard Amstutz, February
9, 2004, Modesto, California
M. Eugene Osterhaven, January
24, 2004, Holland, Michigan
James B. Reid,
notified May 2004,
West Hempfield, Pennsylvania
1949: Rufus Cornelsen,
November 24, 2003,
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
1950: John A. Westin,
February 1 1, 2004,
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
1952: Dan E. Hiett, March 8, 2004,
Littleton, Colorado
1953: Charles K. Dowell, April 26,
2004, Junction, Texas
1954: Richard E. Dunham Jr.,
April 14, 2004,
Millersville, Pennsylvania
Bryan H.F. Ernst, May 2, 2004,
Victoria, Australia
Roger Gilstad, October 2003,
Sherrill, New York
James E. Latham, April 17,
2004, Sebring, Ohio
Joel Mattison, March 30, 2004,
Tampa, Florida
1956: Robert R. Byrd, April 16,
2004, Pasadena, California
Earl Tyson, March 13, 2004,
West Chester, Pennsylvania
1957: Lacy R. Harwell Sr., March 15,
2004, St. Petersburg, Florida
Merle W. Leak, notified April
2004, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Nevin E. Schellenberger,
April 10, 2004,
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
1961: John M. Boice, June 12, 2002,
Wheaton, Illinois
Elizabeth E. Warren, March 14,
2004, Berwyn, Pennsylvania
1962: Gideon G. Scott, December
25, 2003, Dundee, Scotland
1963: James R. Steele, July 13, 2004,
Clilfside Park, New Jersey
1964: Richard L. Husfloen,
September 28, 2003,
Cambrose, Alberta, Canada
1969: Theodore S. Atkinson, May 15,
2004, Oxford, Pennsylvania
1971: Mesrob Ashjian, December 2,
2003, New York, New York
C. James Dudley, May 10,
2002, Branson, Missouri
Tapio A. Saraneva, notified
March 2004, Helsinki, Finland
1977: Paul R. Heger, September 19,
2003, Berwyn, Illinois
1985: Sharon D. Weiss, May 2003,
Woodland Hills, California
2000: Patricia L. Stirling, June 24,
2004, Maplewood, New Jersey
Administrator Emeritus:
William Everett Lawder,
April 20, 2004, Chapel Hill,
North Carolina
36 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
0nd things
Lightning Me!
It was a proverbially dark and stormy
night, May 20, 2004, in Pittsford, New
York. Spring had been unusually rainy, and
thunderstorms were again drenching this
western New York village near Rochester.
Music director James Dottthit had just
begun choir practice in the building adjacent
to the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian
Church ol Pittsford. In the same building,
associate pastor Carrie Mitchell (M.Div.
2002) was meeting with Stephen Ministers.
Pastor and head of staff Bruce Boak
(M.Div. 1972) was on his way home from
Pennsylvania, where he had been tending
to parents who were ill.
The next few seconds would change the
future of this church. The notes of the choir
were suddenly shattered by a deafening
CRACK-BOOM! A tremendous bolt of
lightning had struck the roof of the church,
setting ablaze the 14 1 -year-old historic
building and beloved house of worship.
By God’s grace, everyone got out of the
church without injury. Flames and smoke
reached high into the night sky as the wail¬
ing sirens approached. Stunned church
members watched in horror and sadness and
activated a phone tree with the terse mes¬
sage: “Our church is on fire!”
Amid the commotion, Mitchell formed a
circle of prayer with many who had gathered
at the site, a spontaneous act of hope silhou¬
etted against the raging fire.
“I felt like I was watching my own house
burn,” said one member. Boak learned about
the lightning strike from his wife. As he
approached Pittsford, he saw barricades
rerouting traffic away from the church.
It was not the first time fire had struck
this church, founded in 1807. Flistorians say
the building burned down in 1861. In the
recent blaze, the church’s magnificent steeple
was spared, a village landmark that had
undergone a major restoration last year.
The outpouring of support the church
received after the fire was overwhelming and
heartwarming. From Pittsford’s mayor and
town supervisor came offers for meeting
by David Irwin
space and assistance with rebuilding.
Presbytery leaders provided valuable emo¬
tional support and guidance, and churches
from presbyteries across New York and from
other denominations generously opened
their hearts and buildings.
One of the strongest gestures of support
came three days later when the church went
to a local high school to worship for the first
time since the fire. Eight area Presbyterian
churches sent chalices from their sanctuaries
to sit on the makeshift communion table —
a powerful statement of unity and hope.
Perhaps most touching, however, was a mes¬
sage from the Presbyterian Church of
Pemba, Mozambique, that their congrega¬
tion was in prayer for the Pittsford church.
“Last summer several people from our
church went to Pemba and helped members
of that congregation construct their church,”
says Boak. “They have now sent word of
their desire to come and help us rebuild.”
The nature of pastoral ministry is to be
interrupted with urgent and unexpected
crises. The cremation of memories, however,
in a place where faith has been forged and
community birthed is humbling for any sea¬
soned pastor.
“Flaving to telephone couples who eager¬
ly anticipated the summer celebration of
their marriages in a place where they were
baptized and confirmed has been among the
most painful tasks,” says Boak. “But I am
encouraged by their resilience. Carrie and I
have felt God’s guiding hand as we comfort
broken spirits and share a vision of hope.”
Boak and Mitchell both say that their
Princeton Seminary experiences guided their
delivery of pastoral care in this time of need.
Boak remembered a visit with retired
Princeton professor Cullen Story when Boak
was struggling as a student to balance study,
field education, and personal challenges after
an auto accident.
“Dr. Story didn’t just teach Greek,” says
Boak. “Fde taught students. Fie didn’t have
much to say that night, but he listened and
provided the comforting assurance of God’s
abiding presence. That evening has forever
been a roadmap of pastoral care for me, a
time for confirming God’s providential call."
Mitchell contacted her Princeton “prayer
sisters” around the country after the fire.
“Their support was a much-needed boon,”
she says.
“Dealing with the aftermath of this fire
has been easier because of the ongoing con¬
nections with a spiritual director, case-study
discussions through the presbytery, the
support of my husband, and the close ties
I keep with friends and family,” says
Mitchell. “In caring for members of the
congregation, I am recognizing moments
of grace and transformation in their lives
as well as in my own,” she says.
The fire has unified the church with
a clear purpose and resolve to move ahead.
The congregation has understood their
pastors’ clear message that people, rather
than buildings, make up the church, and
this corporate spiritual maturity has been
a true blessing.
“Fdere in Pittsford we are clothing a con¬
gregation with compassion, kindness, humil¬
ity, meekness, and love,” says Boak. “Our
building burned, but our church is now
truly on fire, and ’the phoenix shall rise
again from the ashes’ to the glory of God.” I
David Irwin is an elder at the First
Presbyterian Church of Pittsford. He
is on the steering committee overseeing the
rebuilding and is in charge of communications
for the project.
inSpire •
Photo: David Irwin
Art Exhibit
Currently through Friday, October 15
Heather Pool Royal "Dialogues"
Erdman Art Gallery, Erdman Hall
Opening Convocation
for the Academic Year
Tuesday, September 14
8:00 p.m., Miller Chapel
President lain R. Torrance, speaker
Organ Concert
Friday, October 8
8:00 p.m.. Miller Chapel
Robert Bates, organist
Princeton Seminar Weekends
for Prospective Students
September 30-October 3,
October 14-17, November 4-7,
and December 2-5
Call 800-622-6767, ext. 1940, or
email vocations@ptsem.edu for
more information.
Stone Lectures
October 4-7
Dr. Marilyn Chandler McEntyre,
professor of English at Westmont
College in Santa Barbara, California
Topic: "Caring for the Word: What It
Means to Be Stewards of Language"
(October 4, 7:00 p.m., October 5,
1:15 p.m., October 5, 7:00 p.m., October
6, 7:00 p.m., October 7, 1:15 p.m.)
Main Lounge, Mackay Campus Center
TheToyohiko Kagawa Lecture
Monday, October 18
Dr. Kosuke Koyama, John D. Rockefeller
Jr. Emeritus Professor of Ecumenical
Studies at UnionTheological Seminary
in New York City
Topic: "'Go and Do Likewisel'Toyohiko
Kagawa'sTheology in the Periphery"
7:00 p.m., Main Lounge,
Mackay Campus Center
Art Exhibit
Monday, October 25-Friday,
December 10
Matheny School "The Best of Us"
Erdman Art Gallery, Erdman Hall
Continuing Education Event
Wednesday, October 27
"Projects that Matter: Churches,
Grants, and Foundations"
9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Erdman Hall
For more information, call 609-497-7990.
Gallery Talk and Reception
for Matheny School Artists
Thursday, October 28
4:30 p.m., Erdman Art Gallery,
Erdman Hall
Continuing Education Event
Friday, October 29
"Making Room at theTable:
Opportunities inTheological Education
for People with Disabilities"
9:00 a. m. -4:30 p.m., Erdman Hall
For more information, call 609-497-7990.
For more information about these events, visit www.ptsem.edu or contact the Office of Communications/Publications at 800-622-6767,
ext. 7760 or commpub@ptsem.edu.
inSpire
Princeton Theological I Seminary
P.O. Box 821
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J N D O N ES
EATHERING THE STORMS OF 2004
th in the Face of Hurricanesjsunami, Election, and War
Also in This Issue
In Community with People with Disabilities * A Reformed Family Reunion
PTS in photos
The Seminary community celebrated
the inauguration and installation of
Dr. lain R. Torrance as president and
professor of patristics on March 1,
2005. (Photos by Jon Roemer)
1. Former PTS president Thomas W.
Gillespie (left) gives the charge to
his successor, Dr. lain R. Torrance.
2. The Seminary's new academic
dean, Darrell L. Guder, wears the
academic garb of his alma mater, the
University of Hamburg in Germany.
3. Dr. Torrance's family (from right
to left): his wife, Morag, his daugh¬
ter, Robyn, and his son, Hew.
4. Dr. Torrance is greeted by His
Eminence Metropolitan Evangelos
of New Jersey of the Greek
Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey.
5. Jessica Bratt, a senior at the
time of the inauguration and now
a graduate, gives the invocation.
6. Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase,
moderator of the 216th General
Assembly, represented the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
at the inauguration.
7. Ph.D. student Angela Dienhart
Hancock sings a solo in the anthem
"Let This Mind Be in You."
8. John B. Cairns delivers greetings
to President Torrance representing
the Chapel Royal in Scotland.
9. Trustee Emeritus William H.
Scheide attended the inauguration.
10. Dr. Torrance gives the
benediction, with retiring academic
dean James F Armstrong in
the background.
11. Dr. Torrance gives his inaugural
address, "Beyond Solipsism,"
from the pulpit of the Princeton
University Chapel.
12. The choir of students from
Princeton Seminary, Princeton
University, and Westminster Choir
College of Rider University leads the
congregation in the inaugural hymn,
"Christ Is the World's Redeemer,"
arranged by John Ferguson and
commissioned for the inauguration
of Dr. Torrance as Princeton
Seminary's sixth president.
13. A pre-inaugural symposium
featured (from left) Dr. Setri Nyomi,
Dr. Torrance, Dr. Aref Nayed, Dr.
David Ford, and Dr. Peter Ochs.
The Muslim, Christian, and Jewish
scholars addressed the topic "Faith
in theThird Millennium: Reading
Scripture Together."
14. Members of the Seminary
community, the Princeton University
community, and other visitors
attended the inauguration.
15. PTS trustee Justin Johnson
(center) participates in the pre-inau¬
gural symposium.
16. From left to right, Dr. Torrance,
his wife, Morag, and PTS friend and
donor Joe R. Engle at the pre-inau¬
gural dinner.
17. Dr. Kristin Saldine, minister of the
chapel, gives the call to worship.
18. A congregation of hundreds cele¬
brated Dr. Torrance's inauguration in
the Princeton University Chapel.
,in_
■ Princeton Theological
Winter/Spring 2005
Volume 9
Number 2
HI
Editor
Barbara A. Chaapel
Art Director
Kathleen Whalen
Editorial Assistant
William Shurley
Communications Assistant
Michelle Roemer Schoen
Staff Photographers
Steven Good
Rachel Lancey
Becky White Newgren
Joshua Sutherlun
■Jo
inSpire is a magazine
for alumni/ae and friends
of Princeton Theological
Seminary. It is publishe
three times a year by
the Princeton Theological
Seminary Office
of Communications/
Publications, RO. Box 821,
Princeton, NJ 08542-0803.
Telephone: 609-497-7760
Fax: 609-430-1860
Email: inspire@ptsem.edu
Web site:
www. ptsem .ed u/read/i nspi re/
■ ■ ■ ■ J vV - ' v ■•'.- ' ■■
The magazine has a circulation
of approximately 23,000
and is printed by George H.
Buchanan Co. in Bridgeport,
NJ. Nonprofit postage paid at
Bridgeport, NJ. © 2004, 2005
Princeton Theological
Seminary. All rights reserved
as to text, drawings and
photographs. Republication
in whole or part is prohibited.
Princeton Theological
Seminary, the Princeton
Seminary Catalogue and
the logos of Princeton
Theological Seminary are
all trademarks of Princeton
Theological Seminary.
All the views expressed in
inSpire may not necessarily
represent those of Princeton
Theological Seminary.
On the Cover
The September hurricanes in
Florida and the December tsunami
in Southeast Asia dealt death
and destruction to thousands
last year. These disasters, as well
as the war in Iraq and the U.S.
presidential election, challenged
many to understand their
faith in new and deepen-
ing ways as storms
whirled through their lives.
a TArtt'CMMaiM
Check us out online!
And send our web address to friends, parish¬
ioners, and those you love. inSpire is online
at www.ptsem.edu/read/inspire.htm.
Features
in this issue
18 • Family Reunion: Reformed Churches
Gather in Ghana
Princeton students, faculty, and alumni/ae
reflect on lessons learned from African
Christians at the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches meeting in Ghana.
by Allison Salerno Trevor
■ ProtKlao- Bus'- 9 ProjKtM. Kafr, □ CwwtMd SIMM
21 • Reflections in Red and Blue
A young Presbyterian graduate student
and voter considers the U.S. election
as a faithful Christian.
by Matthew Gaventa
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Frances
Hurricane Ivan
22 • A One-Two-Three Punch: PTS Alums
Experience Florida's Hurricanes, and the
Continuing Relief Effort, Firsthand
Approaching the one-year anniversary of
Florida's three devastating hurricanes, pastors
and congregations are still dealing with the after
effects, and are grateful for the church's help.
by Barbara A. Chaapel
26 • The Heart of the Matter
A serious look at how PTS and other seminar¬
ies can be truly inclusive communities for peo¬
ple with disabilities.
by Barbara A. Chaapel
29 • Do Not Neglect the Gift That Is in You
A 2005 PTS graduate leaves his calling card,
and a glimpse into his calling, in paint.
by Wesley H. Goldsberry
Departments
2 • Letters
3 • inSpire Interactive
8 • On & Off Campus
25 • Outstanding in the Field
30 • Class Notes
39 • Investing in Ministry
43 • In Memoriam
45 • End Things
inSpire • 1
winter/spring 2005
from the
president's desk
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The true riches of the understanding that the God whom we worship is Trinitarian were not appropriated until
the time of the Cappadocian theologians in the fourth century. Mystic and visionary, they sensed that the being
of God is more bound up with vitality and blossoming and endless creativity than it is with hierarchy and limits.
The Trinity expressed more than a formula (three persons, one being) and much more than a sense that there is a
top God and two derived ones. Looking for analogies to express what hitherto had not been spoken of, they
thought of flame. As one flame, without diminishment of dignity or lessening of vitality, may lead to another, so
it is with God. At a stroke, that notion rebuked hierarchies and any defensive attempt to bottle up energy. So it is
in truly Christian life. And so it is with teaching.
We are trying, as a body, and with the involvement of our students, to look hard at what we teach, whom we teach, and
what it is for. That makes us ask what we expect our students to know at the end, what we think they can do, and how
they learn. My belief is that they will constantly surprise us. All this, in turn, raises questions about our identity in a differ¬
ent way. Whom do we really serve? Which culture are we addressing- — the 1950s, the 1980s, or the third millennium? How
has the world changed?
Individuals often respond to anxiety by closing ranks. Academic institutions do so by attempting to maintain standards.
But ever more is to miss the point. It is an acknowledgement of our own ineffectiveness to attempt to cram two pints into
a pint bottle. Education, and especially Christian education, is not about anxiety-driven overload, but about releasing cre¬
ativity — about unjealously allowing a new flame to burn. Looking at our curriculum in terms of outcomes — what our stu¬
dents should know and what they can do — should shift the center of gravity from faculty teaching to student learning, and
thus, I hope, more readily connect with a changing and exhilarating world and vocation. We’ll report more as this pro¬
ceeds, but a beginning has been made, and in the hands of the newly appointed dean, Darrell Guder, I am confident that
we will serve borh church and learning in faithful and exciting ways.
As I write, I have almost completed a year at PTS. It has been a time of making new friendships and rising to different
tasks. The kindness of my colleagues and of members of the Board of Trustees has immensely helped me. Of course, I long
to be joined by Morag, and she will come back with me at the end of July. Meantime, I am about to return to Rome (to
meet the scholars with whom Jim Charlesworth of our New Testament faculty has been working), and will join in the 50th
anniversary of the Haigazian University in Beirut where our graduate Paul Haidostian is president. Many groups of alum-
ni/ae and other friends of PTS across America have welcomed me, and I look forward to meeting more of you. It has been
a rewarding first year, and I look forward to the future.
Faithfully yours,
Iain R. Torrance
LIBRARY OF PRINCETON
SEP 2 2
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Letters
An Ecumenical and
Electronic Future
I am delighted to have read
Barbara Chaapel’s article on Iain
Torrance (summer/fall 2004). He
strikes me as ideally placed to lead PTS
in the tough times immediately ahead.
From his days on the Shetland Islands
through his service as a military chap¬
lain to his Aberdeen and homeland
church successes, he is thoroughly pre¬
pared. His enthusiasm for the internet
and the world church strikes just the
right note. How fitting that PTS has
reached into its 2nd millennium past
to appoint a Church of Scotland mod¬
erator to lead it into a 3rd millenni¬
um’s ecumenical and electronic future!
We sing that the Lord moves in myste¬
rious ways, and experience its truth
often enough. My hunch is that God’s
hand guided the committee.
Bob Meyer (’56B)
Canberra, Australia
Please write— we love to hear from you!
We welcome correspondence from our readers. Letters should be addressed to:
Editor, inSpire, Office of Communications/Publications, Princeton Theological Seminary
RO. Box 821, Princeton, NJ 08542-0803 email: inspire@ptsem.edu
Letters may be edited for length or clarity, and should include the writer's name, address,
and telephone number.
2 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
inSpire ^interactive _ _
In this issue's inSpire Interactive, we offer alumni/ae the opportunity to share reflections on the tsunami disaster in Southeast
Asia last December. The number of responses we received from around the country and the world topped all previous inSpire
Interactive responses.
What was your reaction, or the reaction of your congregation
or ministry setting, to the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia?
Friday after the tsunami someone
asked on PresbyNet how to deal with
it on Sunday; being at liberty I shot
off my mouth and said I'd junk the
regular service, find tsunami-scripture,
and tell them how to respond. At noon
I got a frantic call from a worship
chair whose supply preacher was in
the hospital. Could I do their service?
The service was rough, ragged, and
wonderful. I told the folks they ought
to respond, and that I was going to
forward my honorarium to Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance.
In the narthex a man handed me a
folded check and asked me to forward
it also. Monday I sent two checks total¬
ing $10,143.20. That's right, ten grand.
Good service, I think that means.
Houston Hodges < M.Div ., 1954)
Huntsville, Alabama
The churches in our country are
so often seeking to help people quiet
the tremors of their anxiety. While
seeking to help in the tsunami tragedy
we can address this anxiety. The tectonic
plates underlie the
whole of the natural
order, even the life
and well-being of the
human family, including
church people.
The joy of our life
is in living out the love
of God that we meet
in Jesus Christ. Our
strength is in trusting
that love, not in more
successfully anesthetiz¬
ing anxiety.
Gayle W. Threlkeld
(M.Div., 1954)
Birmingham, Alabama
3
Whatever answer
might help would come
not from rational exam¬
ination of the phenom¬
ena themselves but
from personal experi¬
ence with God who is
called into question.
Tsunamis occur randomly consequent
to general corruption of an originally
perfect creation, and they parallel moral
corruption of human nature, perhaps
as a symptom of malaise and an alert
to the need for restoration. Whatever
happens in this world, God has some¬
thing to do with it. If not of cause,
then at least by tolerance. If we cannot
eliminate them, we can at least protect
against such disasters and provide
relief from them.
Wallace Alcorn (Th.M., 1965)
Austin, Minnesota
3
On the first Sunday of the new year,
we suggested that in light of the disas¬
ter, a more appropriate greeting than
"Happy NewYear" would be Jesus'
triple greeting in Matthew's gospel:
"Take heart!" But how does one say that
to families destroyed by the tsunami?
I mentioned that on the news I saw
relief workers unloading bags of food
from the back of a truck in Indonesia.
Each bag was stamped with three
letters: CWS — for Church World Service.
The church is there in all that tragedy
with the still small voice of hope:
Take heart.
Within ten days the congregation
of Davidson College Presbyterian
Church had contributed more than
$10,000 to Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance for tsunami relief. It is
a small drop in a huge bucket, but it
is how we say, for Jesus, take heart.
Allen Brindisi (M.Div., 1971)
Davidson, North Carolina
3
At Washington National Cathedral,
the National House of Prayer for
All People, we responded in a variety
of ways.
The following prayer, written by
our canon preceptor, was featured
on our web site.
O God, with all of the people of the
world I lift my voice in prayer. Recreate
human communities, rebuilding cities
and villages, bringing families and
friends together in sorrow and in hope,
giving peace to those who mourn.
Bring new life to the land and sea,
restoring the waters,
renewing the earth,
healing the creatures
that survive, and giving
new life.
Make me an instru¬
ment of divine charity
and mercy, of hope and
new possibility. Give
me eyes to see, ears
to hear, and a generous
heart ready to serve
you and those who suf¬
fer at this time.
Our vicar, the Right
Reverend A. Theodore
Eastman, challenged
our community with
"A Supplemental Way
to Celebrate New Year's
Eve." He suggested
that we send a check
to Episcopal Relief and
Development, the
disaster response arm
of the Episcopal
Church, in the same
South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami
India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thailand
OCHA Situation Report No. 20 ’The General Assembly convened a special
Issued 20 January 2005 plenary session. Member States adopted a
GLIDE: TS-2004-000147-LKA resolution on Strengthening Emergency Relief,
Rehabilitation, Reconstraction and Prevention."
Bangladesh /
Dhakfy£,r
, -^tya n ma ^
Yangoniffa
s" i
Jayewardenepura f
■Kotte Nicobar Island*
Sri Lanka '
s 9 .
* & It
Date: 26/1272004
Time: 00:58:50 UTC
Location: 3.30N95.7BE
West coast of Northern Sumatra
Indonesia
Magnitude: 9.0
*— Date: 26/12X004
Time: 04:2125 UTC
Location: 6 89N 92.89E
Nicobar Islands, India
Magnitude. 7 5
The names shown and the designations used on this map do not Imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations
SITUATION
Massive earthquake (M9 0) struck west coast of Indonesia's
northern Sumatra island on 26 Dec 2004 Second
earthquake (M7.3) occurred in nearby Nicobar Islands
region (India) Quakes tnggered tsunamis which may have
killed as many as 1 50,000 people (UN DSG - 31 Dec 2004).
AFFECTED COUNTRIES
India
10,749 reported deaths, 5,640 missing
Indonesia
110,229 reported deaths, 12,132 missing,
600,000 displaced
Malaysia
68 reported deaths, 6 missing, 8,000 displaced
Maldives
82 reported deaths. 26 missing, 10,338 displaced
Myanmar
59 reported deaths, 3 missing, 3,205 displaced
Sri Lanka
30,922 reported deaths, 5,565 missing, 437,482 displaced
Thailand
5,303 reported deaths, 8,457 injured, 3,396 missing
Seychelles
3 reported deaths
Somalia
150 reported deaths, 5,000 displaced
TOTAL 1 57,564 reported deaths. 26,763 missing,
1,075,350 displaced
Produced by the ReliefWeb Map Centre
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
United Nations - 20 January 2005
inSpire • 3
winter/spring 2005
inSpire
amount that we spent on ourselves
celebrating New Year's Eve!
The Washington Hebrew Congregation,
the Episcopal Diocese of Washington,
and our congregation jointly sponsored
a "Benefit Concert for the Victims of the
Tsunami Earthquake."
And one hundred percent of the
offering at the cathedral's 11:00 a.m.
service on January 2 was sent to
Episcopal Relief and Development.
We will continue to accept donations
for South Asian emergency relief,
and to date, close to $25,000 has
been received.
Dean McDonald (b, 1974)
Washington, D.C.
3
Suddenly, as my daughter Kathryn
emerged from a hotel store, there
he was: a beautifully decorated Indian
elephant sporting a huge cushion
on his back. "Wow! Look— I finally
get to ride an elephant." The trainer
motioned to her; the elephant knelt
down, extended his left rear leg, which
Kathryn clambered up. Holding on tight
as the elephant rose, she triumphantly
posed for pictures of the last item
on her "to do" list for her three months
in India and Sri Lanka.
On the day after Christmas, as the
waves of approaching water rose
rapidly higher, a brightly decorated
elephant on the southern shore of
India sensed danger, walked calmly
along the beach collecting children,
and carried them to higher ground,
safely away from the tsunami.
Our daughter had changed her
mind about extending her stay, and
returned home the week before
Christmas. It was the best present we
could have received. She was troubled
watching the news and remembering
the new friends she had left behind.
For all of us, it confirmed an
American Indian Mohawk phrase that
translates, "We are all related."
J. Roger Skelley-Watts (M.Div., 1974)
Cleveland, Ohio
13
Greetings from Osan Air Base in the
Republic of Korea, 48 miles from the
Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). I am
serving as the wing chaplain to the 51
Fighter Wing in what is known as Mig
Alley. We in Korea were shocked to
learn that our neighbors to the south
had undergone such a disaster on what
the British call Boxing Day. The air base
community held its collective breath
for several days as we waited to hear
from Air Force members and their
families who were inThailand soaking
up the tropical Christmas sun. Thanks
be to God, all of our folks returned
safely to Korea.
Our ecumenical chapel community
of Catholics and Protestants immediate¬
ly responded with a Sunday offering
of more than $2,400 to Catholic Relief
Services and more than $5,000 to the
Red Cross.
We are preparing to send a group of
civil engineers to rebuild runways and
erect shelters in the tsunami-devastated
area. They exist to go into war zones to
erect "bare bones" airbases, and build
runways to receive troops and supplies.
Needless to say they are very excited
about using their training in support
of a humanitarian relief mission!
The United States Air Force Chaplain
Service gave an immediate $50,000
for relief (from chapel collections), and
that is just from our higher headquar¬
ters. We will not know for many months
what the entire Air Force Chapel
community worldwide will give, but
I believe the figure will be staggering.
Jeffrey G. Guild (M.Div., 1978)
Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea
I am pastor of the Waldensian
Presbyterian Church in Monett,
Missouri. We decided to take up a col¬
lection for the next six months for the
tsunami victims. One person decided
to up their pledge 10 percent in the
following manner— 10 percent to the
church and 10 percent to the tsunami
victims — and encouraged the rest of
the congregation to do the same.
We will see what happens in the
next six months. The church has 96
on the roll; and about 50-60 come
every Sunday.
Vicki L. Evans (M.Div., 1980)
Monett, Missouri
3
On a rare sunny Sunday afternoon in
Portland, a friend and I went bicycling.
As we talked, he shared his reflections
on the tsunami, saying that while horrif¬
ic, he felt it paled in comparison to the
tragedy of AIDS in Africa. Effectively, he
said, a "tsunami" of this magnitude hits
Africa every three weeks, with 2.3 mil¬
lion Africans dying of AIDS in 2004.
I reflected on how we respond
to emergent crises with compassion,
and how quickly our efforts wane. As
Christ's church, we cannot afford to do
less. We are called to seek the suffering,
but not only those on tonight's news.
Doug McClure (M.Div., 1981)
Milwaukie, Oregon
13
In my preaching, I was led to reflect
on the pro-Western bias of news cover¬
age of tsunami victims and what that
says about us as media consumers,
whose preferences drive editorial
decisions. "At least eight Americans
among the dead," announced one early
Associated Press headline, "and 25,000
others." Were the sufferings of a blond¬
haired, blue-eyed Swedish toddler or
a vacationing Sports Illustrated swim¬
suit model truly more worthy of our
attention than those of theThai nation¬
als who worked cleaning their hotel
rooms?The tsunami swept away more
than buildings. It also swept away our
pretensions as Westerners who are
sadly inclined to be bound by national
and ethnic identity.
Carlos Wilton (M.Div., 1982)
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
13
On January 2 I preached about Jesus
as the light that overcomes the dark¬
ness (chapter six on theodicy in PTS
professor Dan Migliore's recently
revised Faith Seeks Understanding was
helpful reading) and we sang a new
hymn. "O God, That GreatTsunami"
resulted when Peter Holden, an
Australian pastor who has served in
Indonesia, revised one of my wife
Carolyn's [M.Div., 1985] hymns; it was
put on the web sites of Church World
Service, the PCUSA, UMC, and UCA.
Church school children also did artwork
that we mailed out in a special appeal.
Part of the Limestone Church's celebra¬
tion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
was making CWS health kits.
Bruce Gillette (M.Div., 1984)
Wilmington, Delaware
3
An air force reserve chaplain, I went
on active duty 21 months ago to serve
at Dover Air Force Base. We've sent tons
of cargo out of Dover in support of the
war against terrorism. We've brought
human remains back and done "digni¬
fied transfers" of the remains from the
planes to the mortuary to hometowns
all over America. Recently, we sent out
our first tsunami relief flight. While the
men and women of the two airlift wings
believe strongly in what they do, these
particular missions filled them with
4 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
inSpire interactive
a great joy in serving their fellow
human beings.
John W. Groth (M.Div., 1984,
Th.M., 1996), Newark, Delaware
3
The devastation of the tsunami
reminds us that the Word of God,
made flesh in the birth of Jesus in
Bethlehem, is a Word-for-others.This
year in Nashville, during the Christmas
holidays, our family joined thousands
of others whose lives were interrupted
by this Word. When the news reached
us we dropped gifts and gadgets and
raced to computers to click-and-give
to Oxfam or the Red Cross, called local
churches and denominational offices
for giving opportunities, emptied child¬
hood piggy banks, and donated food
or clothing to local relief agencies.
No time for fellow church members
or my students or faculty colleagues
to stop and dabble with questions like
"Why, God?" The question first and
foremost on our minds remains: "God,
how can we help?"
John McClure (Ph.D., 1984 )
Nashville, Tennessee
3
The stories that have come out
of southern Thailand are powerful testi¬
monies to faith and fear alike, stories
of deliverance and loss, experiences
of assistance and abandonment. But it
is not the ocean waves, in spite of their
enormity, that win out. It is the even
more incredible wave of love that rises
from God's people that wins.
Irrespective of the size of the tsuna¬
mi, love has won again. And it is
showing in the faith, deliverance,
and assistance we are experiencing
here inThailand from the Christian
agencies, people, and programs active
here. Praise God for his faithfulness.
Glen Hallead (M.Div., 1986)
Nong Kwai, Hang Dong, Thailand
3
"How could a loving and all-powerful
God allow such suffering?" I still pray
as I've prayed for years; may my
"answer" be the evidence of my life
and faith. I worship theTriune God
without interruption; kneel for comfort
before the open arms of Jesus, my
master and brother-in-suffering; stand
in mystified silence before the same
Christ in God-beyond-us.
Fred Mendez (M.Div., 1986)
Parsippany, New Jersey
3
"Then Marduk consideredTiamat.
He skimmed spume from the bitter
sea, heaped up the clouds, spindrift
of wet and wind and cooling rain, the
spittle ofTiamat."
What are we to make of chaos?
Some 80,000 Indonesians lost their
lives as the tsunami swept debris and
sea water six kilometers inland into
homes and buildings, crushing them,
and damaging roads and bridges,
telecommunications, water and electric¬
ity supplies, crops, irrigation and fish¬
ery infrastructure, food and fuel outlets.
Banda Aceh will be the focus of the
Church World Service response in
Indonesia. CWS plans to assist 50,000
displaced persons in Banda Aceh,
with a special emphasis on female¬
headed households, widows, children,
the elderly, unemployed families with
limited means of support, and people
or families who have not yet received
aid or support.
Patrick B. Walker (M.Div., 1986)
Middleburg, Pennsylvania
3
My clerk of session, Pat, was
vacationing in Sri Lanka when the
tsunami hit. She and her husband
were there with one of their sons
and his family. Here is an email we
received from them.
"The experience in Sri Lanka was
life-changing. These catastrophes are
no longer just something that happen
on the other side of the world. It is
difficult to articulate what those few
days did to me. We were so blessed
to have been where we were when
the tsunami hit— the highest point
in Sri Lanka, literally.
"It was a point where you could hike
and look out directly to Antarctica with
nothing in between except water. It was
hazy — we couldn't see Antarctica. But
just 36 hours either way and we would
have been in the midst of the tragedy.
We were to travel to the beach the next
day and both places where we were
booked were destroyed. In fact, the
owner and seven foreign tourists were
missing from the place inYalle where
we were headed the next day. This
was on the east coast, which was hit
the hardest.
"Then we were headed for Galle.
That area is on the more southerly
coast and was devastated, as well."
Tonight, Pat sang in the alto section
of our church choir, right next to my
wife, Jeana. We are so thankful to God
that she made it back home safely.
James E. Deal (M.Div., 1989)
East Wenatchee, Washington
3
As I prepared to write a sermon
about the tsunami, I came across some
powerful information in a summary
of the news online at ChristianityToday.
According to the article, in mid-
December, the United Nations issued
a report detailing the deaths of more
than 29,000 children every single day
as a result of avoidable disease and
malnutrition. That is more than 10 mil¬
lion children a year. There is a dramatic
difference between the coverage of the
tsunami and the almost nonexistent
coverage of the UN report. Imagine
if every single day there were headlines
in every newspaper in the world and
on every television show saying,
"29,000 children died yesterday from
preventable diseases and malnutrition."
I think that about 21 percent of the
food prepared in the United States
is thrown away. That food could feed
the world's starving millions.
There is so much work to be done!
Some years ago, I was trying to find
an adoptive family for an eleven-year-
old Russian orphan. When I explained
the situation to a dear friend, he said,
"Anne, there are too many sad stories."
Of course, he is right, but we have to
respond to the sad stories that come
our way. My family adopted the child.
Anne Benefield (M.Div., 1990)
Potomac, Maryland
3
Thanks for not ignoring this dreadful
event in the pages of inSpire. My wife
is from Asia. When we hear of such
disasters, our hearts rise into our
throats. "Where did it happen? Were
any of our own family affected?"
I used the Book of Job as a reference
in a sermon that addressed the disas¬
ters. I must admit that even my own
conclusions didn't truly satisfy me:
"It's ultimately a mystery. Our ways
are not God's ways." It may be said
that God is not responsible for the
twin disasters. God didn't do this. It's
a meteorological phenomenon. But
surely the believer has to admit that
God has at least permitted it.
We may identify with Job and
with Jesus in their trials and suffering.
But when it comes to the weather,
we cannot attribute an intent or
purpose to any of it, good or bad.
That's what makes me sick. I cannot
inSpire • 5
winter/spring 2005
inSpire ©Interactive
(yet) theologize enough about the
earthquake and tsunami to reach a con¬
clusion that sufficiently explains any
meaning to it. Weather is random after
all, yes?
Then I pause and remember that
violent weather happens all over the
place, all over the globe, on any given
day. That certainly puts a different frame
around the issue.
Jack Mori arty (Th.M., 1992)
Ellicottville, New York
13
Our church, the Wayzata Community
United Church of Christ in theTwin
Cities, is conducting a Service of
Prayer this evening [January 12] for
the victims. The theme, which has been
resonating with all of the clergy, is the
words of John Donne, adapted for
our time: "No one is an island in and
of itself. Every person is a piece of the
continent, a part of the main. If a clod
be washed away by the sea, the
world is the less. Any person's death
diminishes me, because I am involved
in humanity. And therefore never send
to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls
for thee." Throughout the service there
will be five brief biographies read
of those who have perished, a brief
meditation, prayers, and an offering
that will be divided between Church
World Service and Unicef. Our main
concern is to help our congregation
"connect" with a tragedy so far away
from home by seeking to personalize
the numbing body count.
James R. Newby (D.Min., 1992)
Wayzata, Minnesota
13
I feel a particular affinity for the
victims inThailand, since I served
as a missionary inThailand for a year
and a half and vacationed in Phuket,
the worst-hit area. MyThai minister
friend there is struggling with how
to understand it theologically, but right
now she feels as though it has second-
coming implications. We need to pray
that Thai Christians will be able to clear¬
ly respond to this situation in a country
that is 95 percent Buddhist and proba¬
bly further convinced that this is just
another sign that all life is suffering.
Steve Sullivan (Th.M., 1993)
Mabelvale, Arkansas
3
It's hard enough for me to wrap my
mind around the devastation and the
numbers involved, but I find myself
even more numbed when the loss
is expressed in generations. I heard
a local family share how relatives in
Sri Lanka had gathered for a holiday
celebration, and in an instant three
generations in that family were gone.
How do you begin to grasp the signifi¬
cance of something like that?
In the back of my mind a verse
echoes from Ecclesiastes: "Generations
come and generations go, but the
earth remains forever." (Eccles. 1:4 NIV)
In light of the recent and disturbing
expression of this thought, I'm tempted
to join in the despairing mood of that
book, but something holds me back.
Maybe it's another verse that
reminds me there is something even
more true: "The plans of the LORD
stand firm forever, the purposes
of his heart through all generations."
(Psalm 33:11 NIV)
Somewhere in the rubble and the
tears there is an opportunity for God's
people to express the purposes of
God's heart, which are firm and true
both for the generations left and the
generations lost. May we find a way
to express that with compassion,
respect, and grace.
Jack Brown (M.Div., 1994)
Grand Rapids, Michigan
3
Sunday morning, December 26,
I woke up to NPR as usual and heard
a short report about an earthquake and
"tidal wave" in the Indian Ocean that
possibly killed two or three thousand
people. I remember thinking that it was
an immense tragedy that so many lives
were lost, and before going to church
added an additional line, a gloss really,
to the prayers of the people. Little did
anyone know that a loss of life on the
order of September 11th would be con¬
sidered a blessing.
So how does a small congregation
respond to mind-boggling tragedy?
Within two days I had an email from
a longtime deacon, prodding me to
investigate denominational opportuni¬
ties for giving. A short pulpit appeal
a week later produced hundreds of
dollars toward tsunami relief. The
church office has continued to receive
requests for information on where to
send funds. A phone call from a cable
television reporter led to a story about
the congregation's efforts to develop
disaster relief packets of toiletries and
also provided an opportunity to engage
the community in a more hands-on
effort than simply writing a check.
In the midst of great tragedy, we
do indeed ask the unanswerable ques¬
tions about God's presence. But even
more so, we look for something to do.
Judy Cuthbertson (M.Div., 1994)
Lomita, California
3
The congregation I serve (First
Presbyterian Church in Marion, North
Carolina) has never taken a Christmas
Eve offering, but this November God put
it on my heart to ask the session for per¬
mission to do so. We intended to send
some things from the Samaritan's Purse
Christmas catalogue to unknown desti¬
nations in the world. What has struck us
all is how God was preparing resources
to respond immediately to the tragedy.
When the news of the earthquake and
tsunami reached us, we had an offering
authorized and ready to send!
Jim Wilken (M.Div., 1995)
Marion, North Carolina
3
We are faced with the worst natural
disaster in history — in terms of loss of
human life and property. Not a very
hopeful beginning to a new year.
What are we to make of this? I've
heard some raise the question: "Is God
passing judgment on us?" I've heard
others invoke imagery from the Book
of Revelation — "There will be wars and
rumors of wars, earthquakes, natural
disasters. ..the end times are upon us."
What I have heard mostly is the
question "Why would God allow this
to happen?" The final death toll may be
200,000 people, and who knows how
many more might perish in the after-
math from disease and malnutrition.
There is one question, however, that
we Christians have to ask ourselves,
What is our part in this? How can we
help? We are, after all, God's hands and
God's voice in this world.
Frank Schaefer (M.Div., 1996)
Lebanon, Pennsylvania
3
Ten days after the tsunami in
Southeast Asia, the banks of the Ohio
River flooded my hometown of New
Martinsville, West Virginia — its second
major flood in four months. Each flood,
though dreaded, does in fact bring the
community together in ways that reli¬
gion has never succeeded in doing. The
tsunami affected many to action. It was
as if folks who wanted to help overseas
found a place to throw their energy
right here at home. In a very practical
6 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
inSpire ^interactive
way, Mother Nature's hard hand disci¬
plines many to rise above the dust and
ashes of our possessions and seek
meaning in servitude.
Jeffrey Shade (M.Div., 1996)
New Martinsville, West Virginia
3
The great disaster in Aceh and Nias
(North Sumatra) has moved people
of all religions in Indonesia (and the
world) to participate actively in rescuing
the victims. Today (January 13) the
number of dead bodies found has been
more than 110,000, and there are still
many under the ruins and missing in
the ocean. Aceh is known as the most
devout Muslim area of Indonesia. It
is the only province where the Islamic
Shariah law operates as civil law. Yet
religious difference is irrelevant in the
project of helping the Acehnese and
rehabilitating the area. Many churches
in Indonesia gave immediate help
to the people in Aceh. The Indonesian
Christian Church, a partner church
of the PCUSA, sent volunteer doctors,
nurses, young people, civil engineers,
teachers, and psychologists to the area.
It also donated money from its emer¬
gency budget, and is still collecting
donations from its congregations.
Given the religious nature of the area,
it is very important for churches to
avoid the impression of help as a sort
of evangelization. The work our church
is doing is done without a Christian
"flag." Please continue praying for the
victims as well as the volunteers, and
also for the Indonesian and world lead¬
ers that they may take a reasonable
decision to make the reconstruction
of the area economically possible.
Yahya Wijaya (Th.M., 1996)
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
3
At the White Rock Baptist Church
in Philadelphia, in addition to sending
money, our children are writing letters
of encouragement to the children of the
VeAhavta orphanage in Sri Lanka. This
has provided us with the opportunity
to learn more about the world and how
we can share with others. I hope that
some pen-pal relationships may result
and we will be able to share with other
children in other parts of the world.
Jay Gardner (M.Div., 2000)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3
I work on human trafficking at the
national headquarters ofThe Salvation
Army. You may have seen headlines
about the danger of the orphaned
children being kidnapped and sold
into slavery. My focus is on the United
States, but my partner was interviewed
on television about the subject
on MSNBC. One of our development
professionals received a donation
to build a shelter for orphaned children
in Sri Lanka.
Adam Freer (M.Div., 2002)
Alexandria, Virginia
13
I arrived in Aceh on January 1, one
week after the tsunami, to support the
CNN crew, some of whom have come
from the other side of the earth.
I can add only a few experiences to
the information deluging the airwaves.
Like when I stood in the middle of the
ruin, and looked 360 degrees around
as far as the horizon. The few trees and
buildings still standing here and there
accentuated the devastation.
Or when I walked carefully among
the debris, trying not to step in the mud
or on some sharp objects, a few feet
from the bodies not yet retrieved by the
volunteers. Not the beautiful persons
in beautiful caskets, but the nameless,
bloated people whose numbers will be
added into the tally of death. The smell
of decay all around. And with every
breath, the place entered you, and
became part of you.
And the stories people told. No differ¬
ent than what you read in the newspa¬
pers, except that they were so close.
And you touched their hands and,
maybe, for a second, their hearts.
Is there a lesson from all this?
At least one. The tsunami destroyed
a large area and thousands of houses
on the island of Simeulue near the
epicenter. But only between eight and
ten islanders died. At the beginning
of the 20th century, a tsunami hit the
island. Since then, every Simeulue
islander has been taught from child¬
hood that whenever the sea leaves the
shore, they have to run to the hills.
I will have left this place before you
read this. CNN is scaling down. On to
the next big story— the Iraq election. The
displaced people will find new homes
and new jobs somehow. New entrepre¬
neurs will arrive. The areas will be
rebuilt, forgotten, and return to normal.
There are two girls who come to
CNN's temporary base in Banda Aceh
every day to help the cook. When the
tsunami came, their parents put them
and their older brother on a motorcycle
and told them to outrun the water. They
did. Their parents did not.
Every time we meet, they greet
me with a big smile and hearty laugh¬
ter. I always laugh with them.
Samsudin Berlian (M.Div., 2003)
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
3
We were on our way for our winter
vacation to Chennai in South India on
December 26. While on the train we
heard that there was an earthquake
in Chennai, but did not realize the seri¬
ousness of the situation. As our train
approached Chennai on the morning
of the 27th, I noticed and remarked to
my daughter that the sea was unusually
high when we passed over the backwa¬
ters of Ennore Creek. When we reached
Chennai we were told of the tsunami
and the destruction it caused.
What was encouraging was the way
all the Christian NGOs sprung into
action and began the relief work. Even
the local churches responded quickly
and began to help in whatever way they
could. Back in Jabalpur our own church,
the English Methodist Church, respond¬
ed by praying for the victims and the
relief work and making a collection to
express their solidarity with the victims.
Stories of what happened and the
suddenness with which it happened
kept pouring in every day. We tried to
go to the affected places, but were told
that was impossible as it might hamper
relief work.
I am reminded of what Jesus said
in Luke. The signs of the coming of the
Son of Man will be preceded by such
events. These are the signs of the immi¬
nent return of Jesus Christ, so we as
a church need to take fresh stock of our
priorities. And also respond in love to
those who are the victims. It reminds us
that much of what we as human beings
give importance to is temporary and
any day can be snuffed out.
I read a story of a Christian worker
who was in Nagapatinam holidaying
with his family. Within seconds, while
they were on the beach, he lost his
three children and some of his relatives.
He had to personally bury his three
children on the beach as there was no
help coming. He lost his family, but not
his faith and the hope that he will meet
them all one day.
There are such stories of sorrow and
hope amidst the ruins of the tsunami.
John R.A. Simeon (Th.M., 2002)
Jabalpur, India
inSpire • 7
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
Music from Miller Chapel: New
CD Series
I
:
This spring Princeton Seminary will
launch a new CD series, Music from
Miller Chapel, with the release of
0 Come, Let Us Sing! The compact
disk features hymns, anthems,
gospel songs, spirituals, Genevan
psalms, Orthodox chants, and art
songs, as well as readings. Both
music and readings are taken from
actual services and liturgical concerts
held in Miller Chapel since its rededi¬
cation in 2000.
MartinTel, PTS's C.F. Seabrook
Director of Music, says the CD cap¬
tures not only choral singing by the
Seminary choirs, but also congrega¬
tional singing, or what he calls "the
greater choir."
"The musical choices are eclectic,"
he says. "We want to offer listeners
an honest expression of the sung
faith of the Princeton Seminary com¬
munity." Since none of the tracks was
recorded in a studio, but live in wor¬
ship, Tel warns listeners to expect a
few "dropped hymnals and wayward
pitches. There were no retakes!"
The title track, "0 Come, Let Us
Sing Unto the Lord," is a setting of
the opening verses of Psalm 95 by
composer K. Lee Scott, and sets a
complete brass choir in dialogue with
the vocal choir. Other tracks include
instrumental accompaniments by
organ, djembe, guitar, accordion,
piano, and even cowbell! Also fea¬
tured is the solo voice of PTS gradu¬
ate William Heard, a consummate
gospel musician.
The CD is available in the
Theological Book Agency for a cost
of $9.
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President lain Torrance attended the installation of Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on April
24. He was one of two delegates representing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. He
also represented the Church of Scotland. Torrance is pictured here with Archbishop Mario
Conti of Glasgow, and a sea of archbishops from around the world.
Whirlwind Year for President Torrance
lain Torrance's first year as Princeton Seminary's president didn't give him much time
to stand still! His tenure began at the 2004 General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia.
During the year he visited alumni/ae and friends at twelve gatherings across the coun¬
try, from Pennsylvania to California. He met with the presidents of the ten Presbyterian
seminaries, and with the Committee onTheological Education of the Presbyterian
Church. A highlight of the year was his inauguration and installation in March as presi¬
dent and professor of patristics. That event included a daylong symposium titled
"Reading Scripture Together," at which scholars David Ford, Peter Ochs, Aref Nayed,
and Setri Nyomi discussed Christian, Jewish, and Muslim approaches to their scrip¬
tures. In April, he represented the World Alliance of Reformed Churches at the installa¬
tion of Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, and in June returned to Rome, where, with
PTS professor James Charlesworth, he met with Cardinal Kasper, president of the
Vatican Council on Unity.
In June, Torrance spoke at the Baccalaureate Service at Haigazian University in Beirut,
Lebanon. The university, whose president, Paul Haidostian, is a PTSTh.M. and Ph.D.
graduate, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Late June and early July tookTorrance back to Scotland, where he preached
at Princeton's Joint Institute ofTheology at St. Andrews University, from which
he received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on June 24. On July 6 the University
of Aberdeen, where he taught and served as dean before coming to Princeton, awarded
him the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.
Amid the traveling and a myriad of first-year administrative and academic duties with
the Board ofTrustees, the faculty, and the administration, he found time to teach a sem¬
inar to military chaplains who were PTS students this past year, to preach in Miller
Chapel almost weekly, and to preach in a number of churches small and large across
the United States, from Louisiana to Washington.
8 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
A student at the Health Fair gets a chiropractic
adjustment from a local chiropractor.
Faculty Accolades
James Charlesworth was taped last fall in Miller Chapel
for a program with LondonTelevision on Michelangelo's
Zechariah. He said it was "interesting to point out how
Christians in the 16th century read the 'OldTestament'
messianically and that Martin Luther was in Rome, on
assignment from his order, one year after Michelangelo
completed the portrait of Zechariah."
He was also interviewed on CNN's Paula Zahn Now in
December on a program titled "Who Was Jesus of
Nazareth?" The topic was what Jesus might have looked like.
Ellen Charry spoke at Grove City College in Grove
City, Pennsylvania, as part of their Bible and American
Society Lectures last fall. She spoke on "The Ethics of
Christian Citizenship" and "The Autonomous Individual
in Pauline Perspective."
Kenda Creasy Dean's book Practicing Passion has been
included in the Academy of Parish Clergy's TopTen Books
of 2004.
Nancy Duff appeared on MSNBC News in March. She
was interviewed for the segment on theTerri Schiavo case.
She was also interviewed in May on New York radio WKTU's The Interfaith
Connection about the ethical implications of the Schiavo case.
Beverly Roberts Gaventa has been recognized nationally for her work on the
Protestant view of Mary. She appeared on the PBS program Religion and Ethics
Newsweekly in December in a segment on Mary and Protestantism. Religion and
Ethics Newsweekly is the only national television news magazine program dedicated
exclusively to news of religion and spirituality and major ethical issues.
She was also interviewed in TIME magazine's March 21 issue for the cover story
about Mary gaining a wider following among Protestant Christians.
George Hunsinger wrote the final draft of "Confessing Christ in a World of Violence,"
an open letter from more than 200 theologians and ethicists calling on religious
leaders to oppose the misuse of faith, particularly in the conduct of the war on terror.
The confession was based on the 1934 Barmen Declaration and is composed of five
statements "seeking to invalidate a theology of war while embracing the biblical
meaning of Christ."
In January he led a group of 225 religious leaders in calling on (unsuccessfully)
the United States Senate to reject attorney general nominee Alberto Gonzales.
Cleo LaRue delivered the 2004 Gardner C. Taylor Lecture at Duke Divinity School
in Durham, North Carolina, in October.
Sang Hyun Lee was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD)
in February by Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, for his contributions to the
interpretation of America's premier philosopher-theologian, Jonathan Edwards, and to
the development of Asian American theology. Conferring the degree was Whitworth's
President William P. Robinson, who is also a member of PTS's Board ofTrustees.
Bruce McCormack was honored in November at his alma mater, Point Loma Nazarene
University in San Diego, California. A 1976 graduate of the institution, he received The
Alumnus of Point Loma Award, given in recognition of outstanding professional or aca¬
demic achievement, a strong Christian testimony, and an impact on the lives of others.
McCormack is the second Point Loma Nazarene University alumnus teaching at PTS to
receiveThe Alumnus of Point Loma Award in the last five years. Jim Kay, a 1969 Point
Loma Nazarene University graduate, received the award in 2000.
Patrick Miller was honored in July 2004 with an honorary Doctor ofTheology degree
from the University of Heidelberg. His address on "Rethinking the First Article of the
Creed" was published in the January issue of TheologyToday.
He also spoke at a two-day conference in October along with Arnold Eisen from
Stanford University about the differences between Jewish and Christian identity. The
conference was held at the Main Line Reform Temple and Bryn Mawr Presbyterian
Church in suburban Philadelphia. About 175 Jews and Presbyterians came together
to reexamine and strengthen their interfaith ties.
Samuel Hugh Moffett presented a lecture in November that was part of the
Archbishop Gerety Lecture Series at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of
Theology, Seton Hall University. He spoke on the topic "Has Christianity Failed in Asia?"
Crunch, Munch,
Ahh! PTS Hosts
Wholistic Health Fair
On October 20, soft
strains of classical music
floated through the
Mackay Campus Center's
auditorium as Princeton
Seminary students, fac¬
ulty, and staff munched
on healthy snacks, expe¬
rienced free chair mas¬
sages, checked blood
pressure, and learned
about keeping the whole
self— mind, body, and
spirit — healthy.
The Seminary's sev¬
enth annual Wholistic
Health Fair, sponsored
by the Seminary's Wholistic Health
Initiative, an organization of students under
the direction of Nancy Schongalla-
Bowman, director of student counseling,
gave the Seminary community the opportu¬
nity to visit more than 40 exhibits that
featured traditional and nontraditional
approaches to wholistic health. Among the
exhibitors were a chiropractor, a psychia¬
trist, a podiatrist, an acupuncturist, and
a biofeedback specialist.
"It's always a wonderful opportunity
to be exposed to alternative and wholistic
forms of healthcare," said Reno Lauro,
an M.Div. senior from Austin, Texas.
"The health fair reminded me that health
is about the way one structures his or her
life, not about popping pills."
Heather Parker, a certified massage thera¬
pist and owner of Feeling Stress? Massage
Therapy in Princeton, gave free chair mas¬
sages during the health fair.
"For me, what I wanted students to
get from the fair was an awareness of
the body," said Parker. "Students need
to move around now so they don't become
stiff old people."
After his chair massage, Eric Osborne,
an M.Div. junior from Memphis, Tennessee,
was able to discuss mental health issues,
visit an exhibit about air purification, talk
with an American Cancer Society represen¬
tative, and sample vegetarian chili.
"I was amazed," said Osborne, "at the
number of people they had from so many
different areas. [The fair] showed that
wholistic health includes eating well, taking
care of the body, mental health, and even
spiritual health — including finding ways
to help others."
Some of the best advice from the health
fair, though, was some of the simplest.
"It's a benefit for you guys to relax a lit¬
tle," said Parker.
inSpire • 9
Photo: Chip Hardwick
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
Moderator Returns Home
"I can't seem to get away from this
place," laughed Rick Ufford-Chase, mod¬
erator of the 216th General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church (USA) when
he visited the Princeton Seminary
campus as moderator last December.
"As a kid I lived at CRW when my dad
was a student here. Later I tried seminary
myself, but only made it through
a semester before I realized God was
calling me to ministry as a layperson.
And today my wife's parents live just
a few blocks from Alexander Hall! My
life is woven into this institution; the
Development Office was even able
to track me down when I lived in
Central America!"
At 41, Ufford-Chase, who directs
Borderlinks, a binational organization
dealing with the concerns of migrants
on the U.S. /Mexican border, is likely the
youngest moderator of the 2.5-million-
member denomination he heads for two
years. He was a hit with PTS students.
"I want to have a conversation with you
about what it means to be church togeth¬
er," he told more than 60 students at an
informal lunchtime forum after he
preached in chapel and attended a class.
"I think it means being in the world
living our faith every single day. It means
living in community, sharing, finding
ways of really living together and relying
on each other. Ministry is not about high
salaries, good medical plans, and how
much continuing education you get. How
can those be our concerns when so much
of the world lives at the poverty level?"
Ufford-Chase knows of what he preach¬
es. He and his wife and son live in a 17-
member community inTucson "with lots
of chickens and dogs, sharing of cars —
there are no two-car families! — childcare,
and one working washing machine (that's
really all you need for ten families).
"Too many pastors are lone-rangers;
community is hard work. But if we don't
try to live it, yet still get in the pulpit and
preach it, people won't listen to us."
The moderator implied that such
community may be hard to come by
at Princeton. "At least for me," he said,
"it was too comfortable here. I was strug¬
gling with issues about justice in the
world, and there weren't even any libera¬
tion theology courses being taught. The
best part of my seminary experience was
an urban ministry practicum taught in
Trenton and Newark. I ended up in an
African American church in West Orange."
That experience pulled him away
from seminary and into work as a
volunteer-in-mission with the Mexican
American immigrant community in
California, on to Central America, and
then to founding Borderlinks.
Since then, immigrant people, people
who live "at the borders," have been
close to his heart and his work. "I guess
God has a sense of humor," he told stu¬
dents. "I seem to keep a foot in the world
I grew up in, but also be a bridge to the
world of hurt and want, the underside of
the global economy, where people have a
hard time eating and no reason to dream.
In the massive immigration to the U.S.,
God seems to be bringing the world to us
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Moderator of the 216th General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
Rick Ufford-Chase
if we won't go to the world." He told stu¬
dents that 231 people lost their lives try¬
ing to cross the U.S. border into Arizona
from Mexico in 2004.
While on campus, Ufford-Chase also
attended a Seminary worship service for
peace, and stayed up til midnight talking
with students. He had the opportunity
to talk with President lainTorrance, with
whom he shares membership in the
small company of church moderators
(Torrance was moderator of the Church
of Scotland in 2004). "Rick and I have had
an instant rapport," Torrance said. "I wel¬
come his commitments to mission at the
borders, and to crossing the boundaries
set between people."
Ufford-Chase returned to the Seminary
in March to participate, as moderator, in
Torrance's inauguration and installation
as president.
Jim and Noreen Gafgen with a jar of pickles
at the ready for the 2005 NFL season
30 Seconds of Fame...
James Gafgen, the Seminary's mailroom
and duplicating supervisor, can add inSpire
to his impressive list of media appearances:
ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, Adweek, WFAN radio in
New York, and TheTimes of Trenton, New
Jersey. Gafgen and his wife, Noreen, whom
he married last August in Miller Chapel,
starred in a nationally broadcast commer¬
cial for Visa.
The commercial campaign, centered
around National Football League fans and
their traditions in "getting ready for the
game," featured odd rituals NFL fans have
when watching football.
Gafgen, who has been a fan of the
Cleveland Browns since he was seven,
has been shaking pickles at the television
screen during Browns games since 1999.
"I was watching a game and eating a
cheesesteak. [The Browns] weren't playing
well, so, out of frustration, I shook my
pickle at the screen. Next play, they scored
a touchdown," said Gafgen.
What was to come next can only be
described as one of those unsought, unbe¬
lievable "big breaks."
"For the promotion, Visa emailed all the
NFL teams, who in turn emailed their fan
clubs. The Browns Backers emailed their
300 clubs," said Gafgen.
The head of the Browns Backers of
New Jersey, of which Gafgen is a member,
had heard of Gafgen's pickle shaking,
and suggested him to the national club for
consideration. They in turn decided to pass
Gafgen and his ritual on to Visa.
Before Gafgen knew it, Visa called.
"Visa flew us to Charlotte, North Carolina,
for three days. We filmed from 6:45 a.m.
until 4:00 p.m. one day. We were doing all
sorts of takes — sometimes 20 at a time,"
said Gafgen.
The commercial aired during the second
quarter of the September 19 Giants-
Redskins game.
"The first time my wife saw it, she
screamed," said Gafgen.
Starring in a national commercial has
brought some fame to the Gafgens. People
have recognized them in restaurants and
on the street.
"My wife is camera-shy, doesn't even like
to have her picture taken. But I think it's
great," said Gafgen.
10 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
Theology Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Since 1944, Theology Today has brought contemporary reflection about theological
themes and issues into the offices and homes, and more recently onto the computer
screens, of its subscribers. These readers are primarily mainline Protestant clergy, but
also Catholics, academics, and interested lay readers.
PTS's Haley Professor of Old Testament Patrick Miller has edited the journal since
1990, and with the October 2004 issue retired his editorial pen. Ellen Charry, the
Seminary's Harmon Associate Professor of SystematicTheology and coeditor with
Miller, took over editorial duties in January 2005.
"Pat Miller's leadership of Theology Today has been far more than a labor of love,"
says Charry. "It has been a genuine vocation. He crafted a steady and dynamic editori¬
al ethos for the journal that enabled it to speak to the times without becoming trendy.
The theological community is in his debt. He is truly a servant of the church,"
Theology Today \s a respected, ecumenical journal that in a 2001 poll conducted by
Pulpit & Pew was ranked thirteenth among all periodicals read by mainline Protestant
clergy.The poll included popular journals like TIME and Newsweek.
When former Seminary president John A. Mackay began publication of Theology
Today in the mid-twentieth century, he used these words to underscore its rationale:
"Theology is never irrelevant to the affair of men.... In a period of confusion and cri¬
sis, when tomorrow is being born in the travailing womb of today, theology is the
most important study in which men can engage as they make their pilgrimage from
one era to another, and from this world to the world to come."
Of late, the journal has begun publishing two theme issues a year for which authors
are invited to write on a thematic focus, and two more eclectic issues that feature the
best unsolicited articles received. Recently the editors have also initiated new shorter
features:The Medium & the Message (explorations of contemporary theology as
expressed in popular media such as film/TV, literature, music, and the internet),
Crossing Boundaries (essays by specialists in one theological field reflecting on a pri¬
mary text from another field). Parish theThought (essays by experienced pastors and
teachers applying theological reflections to specific components of pastoral practice),
and Let Us Now Praise (an annual obituary feature honoring former contributors who
have died in the past year).
"Although we are in many respects a traditional academic journal, in response to
the increasingly visual and electronic orientation in contemporary society, we have
been trying to incorporate more visual appeal in the journal, introducing full-color
covers, illustrations, and features on theology in various media," Charry says. "We
also hope to market the journal to a broader audience, including leaders in churches
beyond traditional mainline congregations. We want to reach what some are calling
'the emerging church,' places where Christianity is being experimented with but
places that do not always have seminary-trained leaders."
Recent issues of the journal have addressed the themes of global mission and busi¬
ness from a theological perspective, and future issues will cover theology and music,
theological aesthetics, and theology and humor.
For information about how to subscribe to TheologyToday, email
theology.today@ptsem.edu or visit http://theologytoday@ptsem.edu.
2005 Graduate Hui Chen Wins David H.C. Read Preacher/Scholar Award
Hui Chen, a Master of Divinity graduate, is the 2005 winner of the $10,000 David H.C.
Read Preacher/Scholar Award given by the congregation of Madison Avenue
Presbyterian Church in New York City to honor their former pastor, the Reverend Dr.
David H.C. Read.
The award is given to a student in the final year of a Master of Divinity degree pro¬
gram who demonstrates special distinction in both preaching and biblical scholarship
and who is committed to the parish pulpit ministry.
In July, Chen began a scholar-in-residence program for six months studying patristics
at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.
PTS Student Performs for Red Cross
PrincetonTheological Seminary's connec¬
tion with the American Red Cross of Central
New Jersey goes back a long way.
"The Seminary has been working with
the Red Cross for more than 24 years,"
said Steve Cardone, PTS director of housing
and auxiliary services. "We hold three blood
drives a year: fall, spring, and summer."
In 1999, the Red Cross presented its
College Award to PTS in recognition of the
Seminary's support of the blood drives.
But this year, the organization recognized
the Seminary for more than giving blood —
it recognized some of the Seminary's musi¬
cal talent.
Kimberly Strange-Shanks, an M.Div.
senior from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
was chosen to sing at the American Red
Cross of Central New Jersey's annual meet¬
ing last October.
Valerie Mangrum, the Red Cross's special
events coordinator, said some of her col¬
leagues mentioned that there had always
been someone to sing a few pieces at the
annual meeting. "I knew I could find some¬
one at the Seminary,'" said Mangrum.
Mangrum's husband, the Rev. William
Mangrum, was a student at Princeton and
both he and Valerie had heard Strange-
Shanks sing in chapel, so Valerie approached
Strange-Shanks — and she accepted.
"People absolutely loved her," said
Mangrum, "[Kimberly] sang the national
anthem and a piece called 'Point of Light'
by RandyTravis. Everything was a capella."
"I'm really glad to have participated," said
Strange-Shanks. "There were a lot of things
about the Red Cross I didn't know, and I was
inspired by their volunteers and the awe¬
some things they do."
HalMan Francois le Roux, a South
African, performed spontaneous
classical and popular music on his
cello for the PTS community.
inSpire • 1 1
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
mm
PTS's Southern Society hosted its annual pork
roast and crawfish boil in April. Seminary stu¬
dents along with faculty (including Dr, Torrance)
members enjoyed the nice spring weather,
good food, and each others company.
Board of Trustees News
New Appointments
Sandra K. McNutt, vice president of seminary and church
relations at San FranciscoTheological Seminary, has been
named PTS's new vice president for seminary relations,
effective July 1.
Darrell L. Guder, the Henry
Winters Luce Professor of
Missional and Ecumenical
Theology, has been named the
Seminary's new academic
dean, effective July 1.
Retirements and Emeritus Status
Eugene R Degitz is vice president for seminary relations
emeritus, effective November 1, 2004.
James F. Armstrong is dean of academic affairs emeritus
and Helena Professor of OldTestament Language and
Exegesis Emeritus, effective July 1, 2005.
Patrick D. Miller is CharlesT. Haley Professor of Old
Testament Theology Emeritus, effective July 1, 2005.
Sarah M. Parker is manager of theTheological Book Agency emerita, effective
July 1, 2005.
Joyce C. Tucker is dean of continuing education emeritus, effective July 1, 2005.
Faculty Chairs
A gift of $2,000,000 from Joe R. Engle to establish a chair in homiletics in the name
and memory of his parents, Perry and Georgia Engle, was accepted.
A gift of $1,226,000 from John and Ethel Leinhardt to establish a teaching position in
the area of Speech Communication in Ministry was accepted, and the Board approved
the creation of a chair in this field in their name when the corpus has grown to
$2,000,000.
A new chair to be designated the Maxwell M. Upson Chair in Theology and Culture
was created from the Upson Endowment and assigned to Dr. Mark. L. Taylor. The first
Upson Chair is in Christianity and Society and is occupied by Dr. Richard K. Fenn.
A $1,000,000 gift from Mr. and Mrs. Rimmer deVries through the Barnabas Foundation
and a promised gift of $1 ,000,000 from the de Vrieses was accepted to establish the
Rimmer and Ruth deVries Chair in Reformed Theology and Public Life, with this chair
assigned to Dr. Max L. Stackhouse (Christian Ethics). The Board further approved the rec¬
ommendation that the Stephen Colwell Chair vacated by Stackhouse be assigned to Dr.
Nancy J. Duff (Theological Ethics).
The Richard J. Dearborn Chair of New Testament Theology was assigned to Dr. Brian K.
Blount. The Board established the chair in 1983 from a gift from the late Richard J.
Dearborn, chief counsel forTexaco and president of theTexaco Development
Corporation, an elder in both the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church and the Central
Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey, and a PTS trustee emeritus.
Darrell L. Guder
Sandra K. McNutt
Moonlight and Magnolias: PTS Students Host Barbecue and Crawfish Boil
The sweet smell of slow-roasting pork drifted across the quad from about 11:00 p.m. October 5 until noon October 6. It wasn't an all
night cookout sponsored by one of the Princeton University eating clubs — it was the newly chartered Southern Society of Princeton
Theological Seminary preparing for its fall barbecue.
About 80 students and faculty — and even President Torrance— from all parts of the nation ate smoked pork, drank sweet tea, and sam¬
pled southern side dishes — after, of course, some Southern Society members stayed up all evening keeping watch over 80 pounds of pork
roasting on three smokers.
Garrett Bugg, a middler from Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Southern Society's president, said, "It was fun to stay up through the
night with friends, although it was a little different to be chatting on the quad about 3:00 a.m. But, it was sure nice to have a little taste of
home here in New Jersey."
The Southern Society had another campus gustatory event in the spring, this time a pork roast and crawfish boil with crawfish specially
flown in from Louisiana, thanks to Will Shurley, student who calls Monroe, Louisiana, home. Dr. Torrance attended and learnd to peel the
heads from the crawfish, and all enjoyed dancing the Virginia Reel on the quad. The chefs boiled more than 30 pounds of crawfish, 10
pounds of shrimp, and 10 pounds of vegetables, smoked more than 105 pounds of pork shoulder on the smoker, and then pulled it for
good eating.
As long as Shurley is around, the PTS community can look forward to more Southern delicacies!
12 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
The Human Face of Iraq
Sr. Olga Yaqob
"Never believe war is an answer for anything in the
world."
These were the words of Sr. Olga Yaqob, an Iraqi nun,
who was the keynote speaker at PTS's third teach-in on
Iraq, held in the fall.
"I don't think there is anything worse than war
because it kills everything," saidYaqob. "It kills your
hope, it kills the meaning of your life, it kills your dreams.
It kills everything."
Yaqob, a peace activist from the Assyrian Catholic
Church and founder of the church's first religious commu¬
nity for women in 700 years, recounted her experiences of
living through Iraq's 1980 to 1988 war with Iran, the 1990 to
1991 Persian Gulf War and the ensuing 12 years of sanctions;
and the current war in Iraq.
"We wandered in the desert for three months during the first Gulf War," saidYaqob.
"We buried a lot of people in the desert. Then there were 12 years of embargo. I studied
by candlelight because we couldn't rebuild [the infrastructure] after the first Gulf War.
There was nothing left to destroy."
Prior to 2002, when Yaqob's bishop in Iraq sent
her to study spirituality and pastoral ministry at
Boston College, Yaqob lived among Baghdad's poor—
both Christian and Muslim — and worked in the
now infamous Abu Ghraib prison, where she visited
and prayed with prisoners. Now, after completing
her studies, Yaqob lives in Iraq again and described
a radical change in the way Christians and Muslims
coexist there.
Before the current war "we lived in peace with our
Muslim neighbors. We respected their Ramadan and
they respected our Easter," saidYaqob. "The war has
created false divi¬
sions. Christians
are persecuted.
Prisoners in Abu
Ghraib loved Jesus Christ before the war. Now they
hate him. They see America as a Christian nation that
is at war with their faith."
PTS Professor George Hunsinger, one of the orga¬
nizers of the teach-in, said, "Sr. Olga Yaqob speaks
with a quiet passion about the suffering of her people
from the ravages of war. I wish every Christian con¬
gregation in America could hear her. Her voice is the
voice of anguish tempered by the presence of love."
Yaqob closed by expressing her wish that future
generations will be free from war and its effects.
"I don't want our kids to pay the price of fear and
hatred they didn't create."
PTS professor Mark Taylor
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to
George Hunsinger
Interested in purchasing CDs or audiocassette tapes of Seminary lectures,
worship services, or other events? Listings are now included in the Seminary's search¬
able online catalog:
http://library1.ptsem.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First.
Or for more information, go to www.ptsem.edu; go to "Library" and then to
"Library Catalog."
If you have questions or wish to order copies directly, contact Educational Media at
609-497-7900, or email media@ptsem.edu.
Ministering to Those Who Minister:
The Building Bridges Project
PTS's Bridges Project has identified five
life-giving pastoral practices for thriving in
youth ministry.These include a robust devo¬
tional life, sabbath-keeping, relational min¬
istry with young people, equipping the min¬
istry team, and nurturing relationships with
vocational colleagues. Lilly Endowment Inc.
encouraged the Institute forYouth Ministry
to submit a follow-up grant proposal, which
was subsequently funded and is known as
the Building Bridges Project. Building
Bridges is designed to support and provide
programming for 18 ordained pastors who
are passionate about ministry with youth
and young adults. These pastors (represent¬
ing six denominations) serve churches
across the U.S. Most are three-to-six years
past seminary graduation.
The Building Bridges pastors will gather
together three times over two years to pray,
learn, and play together. The first gathering
for pastors and spouses took place in
January 2005 in Princeton. The Building
Bridges Project is also designed to visit the
congregations these pastors serve, in order
to learn more about congregational climates
that encourage thriving youth and young
adult ministries. The project will be complet¬
ed in December 2006.
A highlight in the design of both projects
is encouraging participant pastors to meet
with clergy friends through providing grant
assistance for such gatherings. The Bridges
pastors from the first project have been
writing proposals for "mini-grants" to help
them create such gatherings. The Building
Bridges pastors will have the same opportu¬
nity during 2006. Thus far the projects have
helped to underwrite three gatherings, coin¬
cidentally all in the mountains!
Through underwriting these gatherings
we are learning what works when clergy
create the time and effort to get together
for learning and support. It takes some time
to unwind, so participants have suggested
a minimum of four days. A balance between
group time and individual reflection is key.
Meeting on neutral territory frees partici¬
pants from "hosting" responsibilities. All
three groups contracted with a paid facilita¬
tor to provide a structure for the gatherings.
Prayer, singing, Bible study, table fellowship,
"uncensored" theological discussion, and
just "hanging out" were on all the agendas.
And, as they say, the proof is in the pud¬
ding. Comments overheard from partici¬
pants: "Being with these folks reminds
me that I do not laugh enough." "Our time
in the mountains was refreshing for the
soul, renewing for the mind, and inspiring
for the heart."
For more information on Bridges/Building
Bridges or planning a clergy gathering,
email leslie.dobbs-allsopp@ptsem.edu.
inSpire • 1 3
Photo: Becky White Newgren
winter/spring 2005
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The new bell that hangs in the cupola of
Alexander Hall calls students to class.
Beits Are Ringing
On March 11, a new bell atop Alexander
Hall rang out to celebrate the inauguration
of lain R. Torrance as the Seminary's sixth
president. The bronze bell, cast by Ecat
Foundry in Mondovi, Italy, replaces the bell
originally installed in the cupola of
Alexander Hall in 1828, which was silenced
several years ago by a crack. Generations
of Princeton students followed the first bell's
daily summons to class and to chapel, and
now today's students can do so, too.
On the snowy morning of March 1, a four-
and-a-half-story crane lifted the new bell,
which weighs 660 pounds and is 24 inches
tall, to its home in the 190-year-old
Alexander cupola. It was installed along
with four decorative wooden finials dating
from 1815, also recently restored.
It's thanks in part to members of the Class
of 1954 that PTS has a new bell. They con¬
tributed funds to help pay for the bell as
part of their fifty-year reunion gift in 2004.
In a Princeton tradition, unidentified stu¬
dents secretly stole the bell's clapper in its
second week of ringing, and returned it to
a surprised and delighted President Torrance
at graduation!
Learning Gaelic in the Beauty of Scotland's Skye
If you are intrigued by learning Gaelic, tracing your Scottish roots, or immersing
yourself in Celtic culture and history, and are entranced by the beautiful scenery of the
Scottish Isles, plan a visit to Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Scotland's only Gaelic-language col¬
lege. It is a unique learning center that brings together the arts, culture, language, and
history of the Celts.
Founded in 1983 to bring back the teaching of the Gaelic language and culture at the
university level, Sabhal Mor Ostaig ("big barn" in Gaelic) sits on the eastern shore
of Sleat, a peninsula of the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands. The site was a farm¬
steading site built for animals 200 years ago. The college's mission is to revive what
was once the indigenous language and culture of the Highlands.
Two ambassadors from the college — its director, Norman Gillies, and its development
officer, Donnie Munro — visited Princeton Seminary while on a trip to New York this
spring, stopping to greet their friend and Princeton's new president, lainTorrance. As
a Scot, Torrance knows of Sabhal Mor Ostaig and says that had he stayed at Aberdeen
instead of coming to Princeton, he and his wife, Morag, would have gone there to take
a basic Gaelic course. "I would have looked for ways to collaborate with this creative
place and
its won¬
derful
Celtic
library
collec¬
tion," he
said. "It is
the most c
creative g,
educa¬
tional
venture in x
Scotland >.
in half a £
century to -6
focus and J
preserve a
Gaelic lainTorrance (center) welcomes his friends Donnie Munro (left) and Norman
culture. It is Gillies to the Princeton campus,
also a cen¬
ter for migration studies, and a tribute to the power of language to reunite the two
Gaelic communities of the Atlantic— Scotland and Ireland."
Torrance knew Munro when Munro was the lead singer with the internationally cele¬
brated Scottish band Runrig. Born in Uig on Skye, Munro spent summers at his grand¬
parents' croft and learned Gaelic, the language most islanders spoke in their homes,
and the language of their songs. A member of Runrig from 1974 to 1997, Munro left the
band to stand for the Scottish Parliament (unsuccessfully) and went on to join the staff
at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, whose vision he shared. In 2002 he recorded a solo CD, Gaelic
Heart, celebrating the traditional songs remembered from his boyhood in Skye.
With the growing interest in Celtic religion and culture internationally, Munro and
Gillies hope Americans, particularly those with ties to Scotland and Ireland, will come
to the college on Skye to use the library for research on Gaelic history and genealogy,
to learn Gaelic, to study Celtic culture and music (summer courses are offered in
English), and to be renewed by the beauty of the place.
They also hope to find some funding support. The college receives core funding
from the government, but it needs more to fulfill its mission. "We want to make sure
that Gaelic is more than peripheral in Scotland, and to develop this priceless part of
our heritage," said Gillies.
For Munro's part, he says that it is "unnatural not to have a bilingual culture in
Scotland. I want Gaelic to be completely natural for young Gaels, and I want to share
the values of the Celtic tradition in open ways."
Subhal Mor Ostaig offers modern lodging and dining facilities for individual visitors,
small visiting groups, and conferences. For more information, go to
www.smo.uhi.ac.uk.
14 • irtSpire
Photo: Becky White Newgren
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
Diversifying the Ranks:
The Class of 2007
What do a professional chef, a White
House intern, aTexas Beef Council
employee, and a Presbyterian Church
(USA) youth advisory delegate have
in common?
They are all junior members of the
newest class of M.Div.s at Princeton
Theological Seminary.
This year's incoming class — 245 in all-
included 166 new M.Div. and dual-degree
students representing 27 denominations,
34 states, and 118 colleges and universi¬
ties. But this class' diversity does not stop
there. With more than 45% of this year's
incoming class having been out of college
three or more years, the seminary's
newest M.Div.s and dual-degree students
bring a vast array of life experiences with
them.
Although she enjoyed her former occu¬
pation, Christi Owen, an incoming junior
from Atlanta, Georgia, decided her work
as a consultant in application and strategy
management to the energy industry was
no longer fulfilling.
"I knew there was a greater purpose for
me," she said. "I chose Princeton because
I loved the community and the academic
environment here."
Other second-career students,
like Patrick Johnson, an incoming
middler from Hampton, Virginia, came
to Princeton not looking to change
vocations — he served as an associate
pastor at Leesburg Baptist Church in
Leesburg, Virginia — but to gain a deeper
theological education.
"I came to Princeton Seminary because
I wanted a classical theological education
and a deep grounding that will help me
address the entire church for my lifetime,"
said Johnson, "not just the questions of
today. As a former associate pastor, I
wanted a seminary with a deep commit¬
ment to the church and scholarship."
This year's M.Div.s have not just
brought an array of career experiences,
but also a spirit of service. One incoming
student worked as a volunteer with
MotherTeresa's AIDS orphanage in
Ethiopia, while others have volunteered
with Amnesty International, the Make-A-
Wish Foundation, Young Life, Habitat for
Humanity, Toys forTots, the American
Red Cross, and Special Olympics.
"The entering students represent
a cross section of the church and bring
to the Princeton Seminary campus
a wealth of experience and perspectives,"
said Jeffery V. O'Grady, dean of student
affairs. "A diverse student body enriches
the learning environment and enlivens
the campus community. Ultimately, it
is the church that will benefit from the
broadened perspectives we gain from
one another."
Here are more facts about the newest
members of the Seminary's community:
21 international students
52 racial/ethnic minorities
17 Ph.D. students
47Th.M. students
166 M.Div./dual-degree students
44% of new M.Div.s are women
57% of new M.Div.s are Presbyterian
Church (USA)
37% of new M.Div.s are married
76% of new M.Div.s are under age 30
2% of new M.Div.s are over age 50
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Faculty Publications
Several PTS faculty have collaborated
in the production of a major new
resource in OldTestament studies:
Hebrew Inscriptions: Texts from the
Biblical Period of the Monarchy, with
Concordance (Yale University Press,
2004). Authors are F.W. "Chip" Dobbs-
Allsopp, Choon-Leong Seow, emeritus
professor J.J.M. Roberts, and former
professor Richard Whitaker.
Nancy Duff and Patrick Miller have
IL
contributed to TheTen Commandments:
The Reciprocity of Faithfulness by
William Brown (Westminster John Knox
Press, 2004).
Scott H. Hendrix has published
Recultivating the Vineyard: The
Reformation Agendas of
Christianization (Westminster John
Knox Press, 2004).
Essays by several PTS faculty are
featured in a new book edited by Roger
E. Van Harn, Exploring and Proclaiming
the Apostles' Creed, just published
by Eerdmans. James F. Kay wrote
"He Descended into Hell," George
Hunsinger "TheThird Day He Arose
Again from the Dead," and Daniel L.
Migliore "FromThere He Will Come
to Judge the Living and the Dead."
Cleophus LaRue has contributed
to What's the Matter with Preaching
Today? by Michael Graves (Westminster
John Knox Press, 2004).
Sang Hyun Lee has edited
The Princeton Companion to
Jonathan Edwards (Princeton
University Press, 2005).
Special Collections in Luce Library mounted a fall exhibit titled
"TheTransmission of the GreekText of the Bible: An Exhibition of
Greek BibleTexts from the Fourth Century through theTwentieth
Century." Pictured left is the first printed New Testament, printed
by Desiderius Erasmus in 1516, which he established from a half-
dozen manuscripts dating from the later Middle Ages. This item
was part of the exhibit.
inSpire *15
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
PTS Hosts Marilyn Chandler
McEntyre as Stone Lecturer
Princeton Seminary hosted Dr. Marilyn
Chandler McEntyre on campus October
4 through 7 as this year's Stone Lecturer.
McEntyre, professor of English at
Westmont College in Santa Barbara,
California, gave a series of lectures
titled "Caring for the Word: What It
Means to Be Stewards of Language."
"The sheer availability of words,
written, spoken, and sung, is historically
unprecedented," said McEntyre. "Words
are a gift, and our stewardship of these
words is a heavy responsibility."
McEntyre, who has taught for nearly
20 years, expressed frustration at the
way her students' ability to communicate
effectively has been worn away in the last
10 years by an onslaught of empty idiom.
"There are many bright and capable
students who come in with depleted
vocabularies. They're media-saturated
and disillusioned by spin. They, unfortu¬
nately, have a diminished ability to think
and articulate clearly," said McEntyre.
McEntyre maneuvered through her
overarching theme of being stewards
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
of language by introducing individual
lectures that covered respecting text,
telling stories, revisiting the role of
poetry and prayer, warning against
the "spin" generated in media, and
examining interpretation.
"I think the Department of Practical
Theology nominated Marilyn Chandler
McEntyre as the Stone Lecturer for 2004
because her work embodies the spirit of
interdisciplinarity," said James F. Kay, PTS
professor of homiletics and liturgies. "Her
care over words is a salutary reminder to
would-be theologians and preachers that
what we say, and how we say it, matters
in the proclamation of the gospel.
"The consistently large attendance at
her lectures also points to the pertinence
of interdisciplinary approaches for the
practice of ministry," said Kay.
McEntyre left PTS with the hope that
students will eventually take clear, truthful
language into the pulpit.
"There is a barrage of language today,
and adults have very few venues in which
they can have good, deep conversations
and reflect on those conversations,"
McEntyre said. "The church is one of
those venues where people are able
to have those conversations and reflect.
I would hope that people going into
pulpits realize that the Word of God is
at the center [of such conversations]."
Dan Pioske, an M.Div. junior from
LeSueur, Minnesota, commented
on McEntyre's ability to connect with
her audience.
"Her lecture displayed her pronounced
pedagogical awareness," said Pioske. "Her
warmth, humility, and acute knowledge of
the topic combined to illustrate that she is
first and foremost a wonderful teacher."
Faith of a Soidier
Major John Kiser was invited to preach
to the Seminary community in Miller
Chapel on Veterans Day last November.
Kiser's visit to the campus was his first
since his graduation in 1998.
"I do not see myself as an advocate
of war, but as a missionary of God to the
soldiers who fight the war," he told PTS
students, acknowledging that some in
the congregation were pacifists. A former
infantryman, Kiser believes chaplains
can be not only pastoral leaders, but
also ethical voices to the troops and their
families. "Chaplains search for peace, it's
just that they search for it, paradoxically,
in the midst of war," he said.
"The chaplain's only weapon is the
written Word of God," he explained, and
pointed out that that Word contained
the story of the miraculous healing of
a centurion's daughter. "Here we see
a high-ranking military officer whose faith
is evident for all to see. The soldier recog¬
nizes that the power of Jesus is greater
than earthly military power."
Kiser served inWest Germany during
the Cold War ("I helped break down the
Berlin Wall"), went to Latin America
during the drug wars, helped liber¬
ate Kuwait, participated in the peace¬
keeping mission in Bosnia, and
spent time with troops in Iraq (see
story on page 25). "I have been
blessed to see the world through
many other people's eyes," he said.
President lainTorrance, himself a
military chaplain during his ministry
in England and Scotland, reminded
the congregation in introducing
Kiser that the military chaplaincy
has a long history. "The Westminster
divines realized that people serving
in the army and the navy did not
have ministers, and they began
to take account of the fact that
those in such positions of risk had
spiritual needs, and that the church
had a duty to them."
And if Kiser's duty takes him into c
war, he will not hesitate to wear |
combat boots caked with blood |
and mud into the pulpit to preach
the word of God's peace. I
O
“i
o
o
John Kiser, left, with his daughter, who is happy to have him home from Iraq, and President Torrance.
16 • in Spire
winter/spring 2005
on&off Campus
Lecture Honors Toyohiko Kagawa
Dr. Kosuke Koyama, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor Emeritus of Ecumenical
Studies at UnionTheological Seminary in NewYork City, presented the Seminary's
2004Toyohiko Kagawa Lecture, titled "Go and Do Likewise."
TheToyohiko Kagawa Lectureship, established in 1999 by Dr. Y. Carl Furuya, an
alumnus in the Class of 1959 and the John A. Mackay Professor of World Christianity
from 1998 to 1999, honors and perpetuates the memory of Kagawa, a PTS alumnus in
the Class of 1915. His ministry centered on evangelism and social work in Japan.
"Theologically speaking, periphery is a dynamic concept. Christ has gone to the
utter periphery and in the periphery has established his centrality," said Koyama.
"When I speak of Kagawa's theology in the periphery, I speak of him being surround¬
ed by so great a cloud of witnesses caught in the socio-economic periphery of their
own time."
As Koyama noted, Kagawa was deeply involved with Japan's desperately poor in
the Kobe area. Kagawa's work included initiating the creation of the Japan Farmer's
Union, opening the Farmer's Gospel School, and beginning a mission to lepers.
"[Kagawa] was convinced that the uplifting of humanity, that is, salvation, can take
place within this history here and now, no matter how broken human history is," said
Koyama. "That gave passion to his work because the periphery becomes a locus of
wisdom, for wisdom is nurtured in the uplifting of humanity. It is the presence of the
least of these that personifies the periphery."
According to Koyama, Kagawa viewed his work with the poor as stemming from his
Christian call to value life as one values God.
"For Kagawa, the substance of the Christian faith is to become a living part of the
truth of Jesus' saying, 'I am the resurrection and the life,'" said Koyama. "It is not
about the knowledge of life, but to be alive truly in the life itself. Hence, for Kagawa,
life is God and God is life. God and life become interchangeable."
PTS New Testament professor Jim
Charlesworth, twelfth from left, was one
of the speakers at the United Nations
conference on anti-Semitism. Kofi Annan,
secretary-general of the U.N., is pictured
ninth from the left. Below is the U.N.
conference in session.
PTS Professor Addresses U.N.
Conference on Anti-Semitism
PTS's George L. Collord Professor of
New Testament and Literature James
Charlesworth addressed the United
Nation's conference on anti-Semitism
last summer. His talk, titled "Perspectives
on Anti-SemitismToday," focused on
four points: hatred as anti-Semitism, the
origin of anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism as
the greatest Christian heresy, and Jews'
love of neighbors.
Charlesworth said hatred of Jews fore¬
shadows the end of humanity since
humans' development of morals has lagged
behind that of humans' development of
ways to annihilate others.
Much of this hate, Charlesworth said,
is due to an "inaccurate translation of the
New Testament Greek. In many translations
of the original Greek text into modern lan¬
guages, including English, French, German,
and Spanish, the 'Jews' are often portrayed
as 'Christ-killers.'"
Such a portrayal leads to Christian heresy.
"Jesus was a devout Jew," said
Charlesworth. "Almost all the documents
in the New Testament were composed
by Jews. The major creeds of the church
presuppose a Jewish understanding of God,
and the concept of resurrection was created
and developed by Jews before the birth
of Jesus, who after his crucifixion was
proclaimed by Jews as the Messiah who
was raised by God."
Charlesworth described the emphasis
Jews put on love of neighbor as command¬
ed in Leviticus 19:18.
"[Jesus] put an inordinate stress on
the concept of love," said Charlesworth.
"His teaching on love especially influenced
the two great theologians in the New
Testament: Paul, who elevated 'love' above
'faith,' and the Fourth Evangelist, who
reported that Jesus' new commandment
was about loving others."
Charlesworth joined other speakers such
as Nobel Peace Prize recipient Eli Weisel, a
Holocaust survivor; Anti-Defamation League
director Abraham Foxman; Mark Weitzman,
director of theTask Force Against Hate at the
Simon Wiesenthal Center; The Friends of
Israel executive director William E. Sutter;
and Imam Abdul Faisal Rauf, the president
of the American Sufi Muslim Association.
inSpire • 1 7
AH photos by Corey Widmer
winter/spring 2005
Family Reunion
wed Churches
by Allison Salerno Trevor
Last summer, five members of the
Princeton Theological Seminary community
joined more than 1,000 other Christians
from around the world gathered in Accra,
Ghana, to share their faith in Christ. For
the Princetonians, the experience was
transformative in ways they didn’t expect.
One American seminarian experienced
culture shock, even though he had lived off
the coast of Africa for several years. Another
American student realized that the oft-cited
U.S. dichotomy between liberal and conserv¬
ative simply doesn’t exist for African
Christians. A PTS student who is a minister
in Angola came away with the sense that his
work will only have meaning if he can help
transform some of the political and social
inequities in Africa. And PTS’s new academ¬
ic dean, who has traveled worldwide, was
captivated by the dynamism of the cultural
and religious life in Ghana.
The occasion was the 24th General
Council of the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches (WARC), an international network
of Reformed communions, including the
Presbyterian Church (USA). The general
council, which meets every seven or eight
years, ran from July 20 to August 12, 2004.
The gathered Christians (1,000 delegates
plus numerous visitors) came from more
than 200 Congregational, Presbyterian,
Reformed, and United churches in more
than 100 countries.
uWhat this enabled us all to do was
to see our own cultures through another’s
eyes,’’ said Corey Widmer, a 2005 M.Div.
graduate. “It caused a lot of friction at times,
because we were confronted with things we
took for granted.”
Widmer, from Signal Mountain,
Tennessee, attended the council along with
fellow PTS students David Watermulder,
Coutinho Moma, and Nena Amogu and
professor Darrell Guder. Guder is professor
ol missional and ecumenical theology and
the Seminary’s new academic dean.
in Ghana
Countless Princeton Seminary alumni/ae
were among the participants, including
Setri Nyomi, WARC’s general secretary,
and Eriberto Soto, a pastor from Florida
who grew up in Brazil, and was moved by
the seamless wedding of evangelism and
social justice that he found in the Ghanaian
Presbyterian churches.
Sessions were held at the University
of Ghana at Accra, but included visits
to two sites oi former “slave castles” on the
Ghanaian coast — at Elmina and Cape Coast.
In the dungeons of these castles, slave traders
held Africans until ships arrived to
take them to Europe and America,
where they were sold into slavery.
Moma, an Angolan earning his
master’s degree in theology at
Princeton, called that visit “one
of the deepest events in my life.”
“We were there as descendents
of our forefathers, our forepar¬
ents — slave traders, slave owners,
even those who were slaves them¬
selves,” said Moma. “The impact
of the dungeon was somehow
deep in different ways for all of
us. Some people were remorseful,
some thought of what their ancestors
suffered. Some cried.”
The theme of the two-week
WARC council was “That All May
Have Life in Fullness,” based on
chapter ten of the Gospel of John.
Participants discussed the threats
and challenges to life in the twenty-
first century, while seeking God’s
will for the human community’s
response. Moma called it “a special
occasion because of the way we
addressed openly” the political and
economic imbalances between the
West and the rest of the world. “We
have never had discussions in the
U.S. in such an open way,” he said.
A minister in the Evangelical
Congregational Church in Angola,
Moma has been a member of
WARC’s Executive Committee,
The doorway through which staves were
sent on their descent to the slave ships.
The opening worship service of the Global Institute of
Theology (GIT) at Trinity Theological Seminary.
El Mina Slave Castle: The Portuguese and Dutch held slaves
here before exportation. Within the castle there is a Dutch
Reformed chapel where people worshiped directly above the
female slave dungeons.
18
Left to right: Corey Widmer, David
Watermulder, and Judy and Darrell
Guder
The World Alliance
of Reformed Churches
represents
75 million Reformed Christians
in 107 countries
and 218 member
churches/communions
(Congregational, Presbyterian,
Reformed, and United) with
roots in the 16th-century
Reformation led by John Calvin,
John Knox, and others.
Three Kenyan women in their traditional
dress at the closing GIT banquet
as well as a regional leader in his own
denomination. When he leaves PTS, he
expects to return to Angola as a teacher to
prepare and train leaders and to involve the
church in a social ministry that “empowers
people to free themselves from poverty
and all its consequences.”
The conference left him with many
questions.
“I found we have a challenge,” he said.
“Our work will only be meaningful if we
allow ourselves to transform the current
trends of life.”
Most startling to Moma was learning
at the council that globally 24,000 people
a day die from poverty, malnutrition, and
preventable diseases, and that the income
of one percent of the world’s richest people
equals the income of the poorest 57 percent.
He also was scandalized by the threat that
humans in the industrialized world pose
to the earth itself, putting at risk life on the
planet as the drive for profit by transnational
corporations increasingly damages the envi¬
ronment. In 1989, he learned, one species of
non-human life disappeared each day, while
incredibly, 1 1 years later in 2000, that figure
had increased to one species every hour.
“How do we dedicate ourselves to con¬
tributing to changing that,” he asked. “This
left me with huge and serious questions.”
Widmer traveled to Ghana with David
Watermulder, now a third-year student
from northern California. They were selected
to be students at the Global Institute of
Theology, a program that ran parallel to
the WARC meeting. They lived at Trinity
Theological Seminary in Accra for a three-
week residential seminar devoted to “explor¬
ing new frontiers in mission.”
Joining them were about 70 theology
students and new pastors from all over
the world, including Jamaica, Cameroon,
Holland, Germany, Canada, Indonesia,
and Ghana itself.
Widmer called it “a crucible for self-
criticism.”
By way of example, he explained that
Africa “is a very communal culture. The whole
understanding we have in the Western world
is that we as individuals have inalienable
rights, and that our most basic identity is as
individuals with great value. That idea means
nothing in African culture. There the individ¬
ual receives identity from the community
he or she lives in. That difference was very
difficult for us Westerners to understand.”
Those differences played out during the
Global Institute. “We [Westerners] said and
winter/spring 2005
did things that were offensive,” Widmer said.
“For example, the way we interacted in the
classroom. We were forthright in our opin¬
ions. Even if we didn’t know the others in
the class, we would be very outspoken.
“Africans believe you don’t have the right
to say those strong opinions until you have
established deep trust. For the first two
weeks in Ghana, most Westerners realized
that we failed to respect those unspoken
rules that were culturally in place, rules that
we didn’t recognize because we have a more
individual framework. That made it very
difficult at times, but it also made the experi¬
ence really enriching. We were able to recog¬
nize things that we have taken for granted.”
As a North American, Widmer says
he is accustomed to the “liberal versus
conservative” paradigm among Christians
in the American church. In Ghana, he
learned that worldwide those categories
do not exist. “African Christians hold beliefs
that both liberal and conservative camps in
the United States have staked out for them¬
selves,” he explained.
“I was able to see sides of the Christian
gospel message that I don’t see in our own
North American culture, For example, the
African Christians I met care passionately
about justice for the poor, which is typically
a liberal issue here. But they also care pas¬
sionately about evangelism and converting
people to faith in Jesus Christ, which we
associate with conservative Christianity.
“It’s really moving to see the Holy Spirit
at work in these cultures revealing what it
means to African Christians for Christ to be
their Lord,” Widmer said. “It makes me real¬
ize that I want to be a more global and cre¬
ative Christian.”
Watermulder grew up in the San
Francisco Bay area, and called experiencing
life among Ghanaian Christians a real learn¬
ing experience. “I learned that people in
other places have their own Christian views,”
he said. “They are both wholly Christian and
wholly African. That was really interesting
to see. Some elements of African Christianity
would not fly in the United States. It would
be hard to imagine drumming in my congre¬
gation in California. But if you told an
African church that they had to have an
organ and choir robes to praise God, that
wouldn’t be OK either.”
inSpire • 19
winter/spring 2005
Watermulder’s participation in the
Global Institute of Theology was just one
part of a summer spent in Ghana. He
did a summer internship as a youth pastor
at Grace Baptist Church in Kumasi, the
nation’s second largest city. He had spent
two years in the Cape Verde Islands with the
Peace Corps after college. Even so, Ghana
was still “a culture shock,” he said. “People
live in tin shacks, no one has a car, they ride
bicycles everywhere. We learn a little about
Africa in our seminary courses, but usually
what we hear about is the booming growth
there, and how the continent is more
Christian than North America. I went there
with this in my mind, and I wasn’t prepared
for the poverty, the differences in daily life
and in lifestyle.”
He was also able to experience firsthand
what he learned about in his seminary courses.
“On Sunday mornings, the streets are teeming
with people going to church,” he remembered.
“There are churches everywhere.”
The dynamic Christian community in
Ghana reflects a worldwide shift, explained
Widmer. A hundred years ago, he said, 70
percent of Christians in the world lived in
the West. Now, 70 percent live in what is
called the South. “And the heart of this new
demographic phenomenon is Africa,” said
Widmer. In fact, two-thirds of WARC’s
membership comes from Asia, Africa, and
Central and South America.
Darrell Guder’s role at WARC was
behind the scenes. He oversaw all the trans¬
lation, printing, and simultaneous interpreta¬
tion necessary at a meeting with delegates
from many nations speaking many lan-
Young Ghanians gambling in the marketplace
guages, a role he has played at WARC’s
general councils since 1980. “I didn’t sit
very much,” he said, laughingly.
“Once the meeting begins, it generates
its own business”— to the tune of hundreds
of pages of section reports, speeches,
and addresses that need to be translated
into German, Spanish, English, and French.
Supervising a staff of 30 interpreters and
translators, as well as six editors, itself
“translated” into a “12-hour-a-day job,”
said Guder.
One of those Guder supervised was
PTS alum Eriberto Soto, who was invited
to the council as a interpreter for the
Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking delegates
who came from Guatemala, Costa Rica,
Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, and Bolivia.
When he was not translating or interpreting,
Soto visited and preached in two churches
in Ashanti Presbytery, with 200 churches
the largest presbytery in the country. Ghana
is a lormer British colony and today, of its
population of 20 million people, 63 percent
are Christian. Of the Christian denomina¬
tions in Ghana, the Presbyterians are the
largest, including the Presbyterian Church
of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian
Church, Ghana. As a result, according to
Soto, Presbyterians have a very strong influ¬
ence in the country, having built many
schools, hospitals, and clinics for the poorest
segments of society.
Soto observed five characteristics of
Ghanaian churches while he was in Accra:
their enthusiasm for worship and witness
(“There is a contagious vitality in their faith,
expressed in singing, dancing, giving testi¬
monies, offering their tithes”), their holistic
Two local women enjoy watching David
Watermulder hold one of their babies.
vision of mission (“There are no false
dichotomies between evangelism and com¬
passion and justice”), the prominence of lay
ministries (“Discipleship training is a great
priority”), the role of young people (“Many
Ghanaians in their twenties are in seminary
and committed to lives ol Christian ser¬
vice”), and their commitment to praying
(“Prayer meetings during the week in
churches and homes are a high priority”).
Soto experienced the Ghanaian “praying
church” in a personal way. While he was at
the WARC meeting his mother was undergo¬
ing surgery for a brain tumor. One of the
young people in a church where Soto was
preaching “promised that that same evening
he with some other Christians would be
praying for most of the night for my loved
ones back in the United States.”
Guder’s career has taken him to South
Africa and East Africa, but this was his first
time in West Africa. He found it fascinating.
“The hospitality was wonderful, the worship
electric, as was the street life with all its ven¬
dors. The traffic was mind-boggling, and the
obvious poverty in some neighborhoods was
very sobering, especially when you live in
Princeton. It was an intense experience.”
At the Accra council, General Secretary
Nyomi emphasized the need for WARC and
its member churches to continue to develop
relations with other ecumenical organizations
like the World Council of Churches, the
Reformed Ecumenical Council, the Lutheran
World Federation, and the Orthodox
churches. Nyomi, who is a Iriend of
Princeton Seminary president Iain Torrance,
was in Princeton in March lor Torrance’s
inauguration, where he participated in
a panel on interpreting scripture with
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scholars.
WARC, whose newly elected president
Clifton Kirkpatrick is the stated clerk of
the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s General
Assembly, will be at the forefront of such
dialogue, believing that all the world’s reli¬
gions can and must contribute to lessening
the threats to all creatures and increasing
the dignity and value of life. I
Allison Salerno Trevor is a freelance writer
living in Highland Park, New Jersey.
20 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
I Projected: Bush E3 Projected: Kerry CH Contested States
Reflections in Red and Blue
Matthew Gaventa
HE
m
53E
CUE T:
MB
by Matthew Gaventa
In my election hangover I spent two days
crawling back to my old hideouts, desperate¬
ly looking for consolation from my favorite
liberals and comedians. Overwhelmingly,
more loudly than anything else, I heard pro¬
claimed the death of the Enlightenment, the
death of reason. Evangelism, I was told, was
behind this recent trauma. Christians were
to blame, Christians who think that all liber¬
als are latte-drinking, Huffington-reading,
America-hating, (well, you know the rest of
the line from here). A friend suggested that
“we should have let the South secede when
we had the chance.”
But I don’t know who the “we" is. See,
I’m a liberal, but I’m also a Christian. I voted
for Kerry, and I voted with my brain, my
heart, and, yes, my moral values.
I have been a Christian in blue states.
I have been a liberal in red states. I do not
provisionally exclude my faith when I vote
democratic; rather, I embrace it. My moral
values abhor photographs of my fellow citi¬
zens standing over tortured piles of Iraqi
bodies. My moral values abhor identifying
myself with a country that commits interna¬
tional acts of murder on a mind-boggling
scale to further its policies of economic hege¬
mony. My moral values support a woman’s
right to choose, everybody’s right to love,
and the scientific imperative to understand
the universe we are fortunate enough to
inhabit. My moral values have overdosed
on CNN and, lately, cannot bear to look.
I strictly support the separation of
church and state, as much as possible to pro¬
tect each from the imperfections of the
other. But this does not mean that I separate
my faith from the electoral process; nothing
could be more integral to my citizen duty
than the God I believe in. I refuse to be
hated for my faith by a bitter, disheartened
left, and yet in the past months I have heard
people whose political views I very much
respect refer to themselves as “anti-Christian”
out of what, I think, is misunderstanding
borne of reductionism. Not all Christians
are Evangelicals. Not all Evangelicals are
Republicans. Not all Liberals are Latte-
Drinkers. I don’t like coffee at all; I live in
the Midwest; I think whatever voices George
hears in his head are his own problems, not
Jesus giving him directions.
We are clearly not one America.
Nostalgia for the so-called national unity
that followed September 1 1 seems to me
misguided, and a misremembering of what
was already a divisive and difficult time.
Equally dangerous, however, is the idea that
we are somehow two Americas, one blue,
one red. I have read this too many times:
one believes in the Enlightenment, the other
in Mel Gibson; one thinks before choosing,
the other chooses without thinking. These
binaries fuel the fires of anger and escapism
that, comforting as they may seem, are ulti¬
mately just as destructive as trying to pretend
that we’re all the same.
There are, in truth, millions of Americas.
It is a frightening sort of loneliness to begin
to think this thought, but it is valid nonethe¬
less: none of us thinks exactly the same.
None of us believes exactly the same.
Evangelical Christians are not a large,
mindless horde, something out of Invasion
of the Body Snatchers, descended into our
midst to steal our souls and eat our children.
This makes just as little sense as painting all
liberals with the same broad strokes we’ve
read before. As a Protestant Democrat, I do
not conform to most expectations about the
demographics of the liberal left in America;
yet, it is that very nonconformity that fuels
my liberalism and my passionate defense of
my own rights and duties as a citizen.
Being different doesn’t mean I have to be
alone. Recognizing my own identities allows
me to find community, and communion,
with as many fellow citizens as the horizon
will hold, to the boundaries of this country
and beyond them. It’s messier this way. It’s
tough, because it demands that we resist easy
answers and easy categories. But it is the pre¬
requisite of a genuinely moral politics, and it
must be our goal. I will be a Christian, I will
be a Democrat, you can’t make me choose.
But please don’t try, because I don’t know
if everybody else can resist that choice. I
Matthew Gaventa studies film in the
University of Iowa’s cinema and comparative
literature Ph.D. program. Princeton Seminary
claims him as one of its own since he was a
former intern in the PTS Communications /
Publications Office and is the son of Beverly
and Bill Gaventa. Beverly is a professor in the
Seminary’s Department of Biblical Studies.
in Spire • 21
winter/spring 2005
A One-Two-
Damage to The First
Presbyterian Church of
Punta Gorda (above)
and The First
Presbyterian Church of
Port Charlotte, both
hard-hit by the storms.
PTS Alums Experience Florida's Hurricanes, and the Continuing Relief Effort, Firsthand
by Barbara A. Chaapel
Frances, Jeanne, and Charley are three
names the people of southern and central
Florida want to forget. And, as heat and
water again begin to churn far off in the
Atlantic, they fervently hope no new names
will be chiseled into their hearts and lives
in the coming months.
June marked the official beginning
of the 2005 hurricane season, according
to the National Weather Service, and
Floridians, many of them Presbyterians, are
still recovering from last year’s trinity of dev¬
astating storms.
The first blast came from Charley, which
on Friday, August 13 made a surprise right
turn from the Gulf and cut a path of
destruction right through the middle of
Peace River Presbytery. Just the day before,
executive presbyter Graham Hart (PTS Class
of 1976) had had a conversation with Jim
Kirk, a member of the PCUSA Disaster
Assistance Team, about the possible effects
of the storm. They sent a broadcast fax to all
churches and waited.
Tim Stewart, pastor of Burnt Store
Presbyterian Church in Punta Gorda, who
was watching Doppler radar on TV, literally
saw Charley make the turn. “He said, ‘It’s
coming here, ” recalls Hart, “and 20 minutes
later he was huddled in a safe room of his
house with several labs and retrievers that
help the blind while the eye of the storm was
breaking windows and pulling shingles off
the roof above him.”
Church members of the presbytery’s
38 churches awoke on Sunday, August 1 5
to discover that First Church, Punta Gorda,
had taken a direct hit. Charley lifted its
roof off and deposited it in the sanctuary,
which was a total loss. (The congregation
has been worshipping in the fellowship
hall of neighboring Burnt Store Church,
and has decided to completely rebuild.)
Members of Chapel by the Sea in Fort Myers
Beach couldn’t reach the church because of
restricted access, and only four days later
learned that the building had sustained seri¬
ous wind and water damage; water and sand
filled the sanctuary.
But on that post-hurricane sabbath,
“worship services were held in every church
but those two,” says Hart, and First Church,
Punta Gorda’s, pastor “had prayer in the
parking lot with several parishioners who
showed up even though there was no sanctu¬
ary.” Hart went with an interfaith group
of clergy to Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda,
the two worst-hit areas, and called every
pastor in the presbytery to find out how
everyone had fared.
Now almost a year later, Hart recites
with gratitude the offers of help that flooded
into Peace River in the hurricane’s wake from
across the church and the nation, each a puz¬
zle piece in reconstructing the lives of indi¬
viduals and churches. There was the pres¬
bytery’s Hurricane Charley Task Force, with
25 people present at its first meeting four
days after the storm, who soon made contact
with a point person from each congregation.
There were hundreds of phone calls and
emails from across the country. Forty lay
Stephens Ministers from nearby churches
volunteered to visit Presbyterians in the
hardest-hit areas who did not have phone or
electric service. “One such neighborly visit
found an elderly woman in tears,” says Hart.
“She had no food in her house, and was
profusely grateful when the volunteers took
her to the nearest grocery store.”
The task force quickly put up a web site
to provide information, and, with a $50,000
grant from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
(PDA), hired Larry Graham-Johnson, who
had been through Hurricane Andrew in
Tropical Florida Presbytery, as a rebuilding
coordinator for a year. “FEMA and the
Governor’s office asked us to stay in the relief
22 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
effort for the long haul,” Hart says. “The
Red Cross and others are primed to help as
first responders, but the church knows how
to go the distance. When everyone finally
packs up and leaves, we’ll still be here.”
Adept at organizing, the Presbyterians
soon had work crews deployed to the eight
churches in the presbytery that had sustained
damage; an urgent priority was repairing
a daycare center in one of the churches that
serves 125 children. The center was reopened
in less than a
week. Other task
group members
visited pastors
whose homes
had been dam¬
aged. “We knew
it was important
to care for the
caregivers as they
were trying to
care for others,”
Hart says. “Venice
Presbyterian Church
hosted a breakfast for all
the pastoral staff who had
experienced personal loss,
or significant loss in their
congregation; 25 pastors
and spouses attended.”
In late August, PCUSA
moderator Rick Ufford-
Chase came to the presbytery
to participate in relief efforts.
And since last Thanksgiving,
more than 500 Presbyterians
from churches in Michigan,
Alabama, New York, North
Carolina, and Nebraska have
traveled to Peace River to help.
One team came from the First Presbyterian
Church in Pittsfield, New York, which had
lost its sanctuary to a fire last year (see
inSpire summer/ fall 2004 “End Things”).
“We know what you’re going through,” Hart
remembers one Pittsfield member saying.
Word went out through One Great
Hour of Sharing and the PDA that money
was needed, and as usual, Presbyterians
responded generously. “I was able to take
a $10,000 check to each of our seven most-
affected churches,” says Hart. “It thrilled
me to be able to present the checks during
worship and say ‘This is from Presbyterians
across the country.”’ The presbytery has
received more than $350,000 in donations.
But it is presence, Hart believes, that
has been the most crucial in Peace River
Presbytery’s continuing recovery. “People
being present with people; that’s the gospel,”
he says.
A bit farther east in the Orlando area,
3 1 churches in Central Florida Presbytery
also felt Charley’s wrath, as well as sustaining
damage from
Hurricanes Jeanne
and Frances. Six
congregations could
not worship in their
sanctuaries for
months. As in Peace
River, no church
families lost mem¬
bers to the storms,
The tracks of Hurricanes Charley,
Frances, and Jeanne seem merely
like distant lines on a weather map
until they intersect with a building
like The First Presbyterian Church
of Punta Gorda.
reports executive pres¬
byter Paige McRight
(PTS Class of 1971).
And through the
weeks and months of
rebuilding, it is the
stories she remembers.
“Tom Womack, pastor at First
Presbyterian, Vero Beach, knew they were in
trouble after Frances hit when a school of
mullet passed him on the inland side as he
waded across the church parking lot. He
knew the congregation was coming out of
trouble when members of Westminster
Church, Vero Beach, their daughter church,
celebrated the burning of their own mort¬
gage with a major gift to their mother
church for hurricane relief. He knew they
were coming out of trouble when First
Church, Orlando, sent nursery supplies,
sheet music, and funds to replace ruined
cribs, and when the Board of Pensions
Emergency Fund came through to help staff
members restore homes.
“George Spaeth, a commissioned lay
pastor at Conway Church, and Wesley Porto,
pastor of New Hope — two congregations
that share one space — found three trees
in the church the day after Charley. On
Monday they found friends with chainsaws
from New Fife Presbyterian, Fruitland Park,
arriving to clear brush, and friends from
South Fake Presbyterian in Clermont bring¬
ing lunch for 250 to feed the church’s neigh¬
borhood hot meals after two days
without power. PDA funds later
paid to remove the trees so that
repair work could begin.
“The Okeechobee
Presbyterian Church Food Pantry,
a major resource in a rural county
with many farm labor families,
was put out of business by the
storms. Presbyterians from West
Virginia and North and South
Carolina provided and stocked
a trailer to get them back in busi¬
ness. Because
the farm labor¬
ers could then
work, they could
try to salvage
the crops heavily
damaged by
the storms so
that other hun¬
gry families
could eat.”
McRight
believes the
storms have been teachers. ’’We’ve learned
how much we value each other,” she says.
“We learned a new appreciation for the com¬
munity that is the Presbyterian Church
(USA). We’ve learned patience, that recovery
and rebuilding take much longer than any
of us wants. And we’ve learned to live with
inSpire • 23
winter/spring 2005
a vague but constant sense of disorientation
because things don’t look like they used to
where we live. We’ve learned to be grateful
to God, who is our refuge and strength.
And One Great Hour of Sharing will never
be a casual offering for us again.”
William Anderson, PTS Class of 1984,
pastors Palmdale Presbyterian Church in
Melbourne, in the eastern part of McRight’s
presbytery. Charley had blown out by the
time it reached Melbourne, but Jeanne
and Frances did come calling. “We had
to cancel services on Labor Day weekend
because of Frances, and it did a bit of dam¬
age,” Anderson said. “But on September 26
Jeanne really got us. Not only did we have
to cancel services that Sunday, we’ve been
meeting in other locations since then because
of damage to the church.” Jeanne pulled the
flat roof of the building that served as nurs¬
ery, library, narthex, gathering area, and
offices right off, and left it hanging over the
edge into the parking lot, daylight visible
between the roof boards. The adjacent sanc¬
tuary was flooded, and the standing water
seeped into the lower level. “We had one dry
room on the whole property,” Anderson
recalls, “the choir room.” In total, the church
sustained more than $400,000 in damages.
The congregation met first at a local
elementary school and then, because tarps,
moldy drywall, and mildewed carpet
defined the foreseeable future, the session
appointed a committee to decide what to
do long-term. The nearest Presbyterian
church was too far away, so they approached
the rabbi of a new and nearby Messianic
Jewish synagogue. “An elder and I went to
visit,” says Anderson, “and it was workable.
But of course there was no cross, no font,
no communion table. So we had to impro¬
vise. At least they had a place to store our
hymnals so we didn’t have to carry them
back and forth. It seems like a small thing,
but it was a great relief. Parking was tight,
so we set up a shuttle bus. Christian educa¬
tion space was tight, too. Some classes met
in the hallway sitting in folding chairs.”
Palmdale’s session has helped the
Messianic congregation pay the utility
bills, and the two congregations have
learned what it is to be neighbors. “At our
annual meeting and congregational dinner
in January, there was no pork, ham, bacon,
24 • inSpire
or sausage in our covered
dishes,” Anderson says.
“I don't understand
Messianic Judaism at all
if I’m honest, but I am
deeply grateful for their
gracious hospitality.”
Before the offices relo¬
cated to a commercial office
park, Anderson worked out of the trunk
of his car for a few weeks (“It was Palmdale
Presbyterian Church in exile,” he laughs).
But he admits it was very difficult.
“I’m a liturgical theologian, not a process
person,” he says. “And we haven’t come
close to making sense of all this theologically.
We’ve tried to stress the nature of the church
community, and our life together. After
November 1, we could have gone back to
two services on Sunday, but we decided to
stick to one service so we could all be togeth¬
er in worship.” The church has tried to keep
its programs going, although that has meant
an ever-growing list of venues, including
fellow PCUSA congregations. “Our neigh¬
boring churches, both Presbyterian and oth¬
ers, have shown us a tremendous amount
of graciousness,” Anderson says.
He won’t forget the toll Jeanne took
on people. The oldest person in his church,
a 103-year-old woman in an assisted-living
facility, died when she was being moved out
of the facility because of the storm. A session
member suffered a stroke while planning
hurricane relief around a fellow elder’s dining
room table. “People felt so overwhelmed at
the loss to homes and churches,” Anderson
says. “Two of my elders wanted to resign
until I talked with them and tried to lessen
their load on session. Paige McRight was
a huge support for me, and my colleagues
checked in with me a lot. The storm passes
in a couple of hours, but it takes months,
even years, for people to get through it.”
Bob Norris’s church was 20 miles west
of the eye of Frances. Norris, a 1979 PTS
graduate, serves the Royal Poinciana Chapel
in Palm Beach, an interdenominational
congregation. Frances hit first, with no time
to regroup before Jeanne barreled in. “We
had no chance to clean up before everything
was thrown around again,” says Norris.
“Frances damaged the property and shut
down electricity. We fixed that after being
Water floods Palmdale Presbyterian
Church in Jeanne's wake
out of the sanctuary for
three weeks. Then Jeanne
came along and damaged
the chapel with wind and
r *•
vfa ter, including major water
damage to*’bur organ from
water that came in under
the belfry. Though because
of the storm shutters, we
didn’t have so much damage that we had
to cancel worship.”
“On an island, when there is a disaster
you learn a lot about community,” Norris
says. “We had a respect for weather, and
we learned to rely on and help each other.
We helped evacuate the hospital and people
in homes close-lying the water.”
Norris speaks theologically about
the storm. “God pruned the island, and
we cleaned it up. Nothing hit us that
can’t be replanted, or pounded back into
shape. God’s people in tropical Florida are
resilient. We came back into our church
with gladness, telling the story, as if coming
back from exile.”
Norris’s sermons in the weeks after
the hurricanes considered texts like Jesus
stilling the storm, and the Great Flood,
as he emphasized for his people the pervasive
and constant presence of God. “It was like
we were baptized anew by the storms.”
But he believes at the same time that
the enormity of the loss is still unfath¬
omable, these many months after Frances
and Jeanne are no longer names on the
front pages ol the nation’s newspapers.
“Some promised help has not yet come;
some homes covered with blue tarps will
await roofs for many months. Some of the
uninsured will not be able to rebuild.
Very little of Florida has been unaffected.”
But most of Florida is connected in
ways stronger than before last August. That
includes Presbyterians. “We’re a connectional
church to our core,” says Hart. “The down¬
side ol that is that all of our theological
and social differences pervade the system
and have to be dealt with and argued out
by everybody. But the upside is that in
an emergency, we care, we cooperate,
we connect. The people ol Florida would
not be where we are now were it not for
a connectional church.” I
winter/spring 2005
in the field
heaiang
operation
1RA01
Chaplain Kiser in front of the hospital
tent in Iraq
by
in W. Kiser
After completi^-a year of clinical
pastoral education at Broshe Army Medical
Center at Fort Sam Houston, fe^cas, I was
assigned to the 28th Combat Supphct
Hospital at Fort Bragg, North CarolinaH,n
January 2003. Preparations for deployment' -
to Kuwait were already in high gear when
I arrived. Our hospital was to be one of the
first to support U.S. soldiers in Iraq. We left
for a yearlong deployment in March 2003,
just a week before the war began.
Our 300-member hospital consisted
of physicians with various specialties,
nurses, medics, cooks, mechanics, and
two CPE-trained hospital chaplains. 1 was
one of these.
Our push into Iraq didn’t take place
all at once, as the hospital didn’t have
enough organic transportation assets to
move in one jump. It took five two-day,
back-and-forth convoys for the entire hospi¬
tal to set up in the desert just southwest of
Baghdad. Eventually the hospital split into
two parts, one going into the Baghdad
“Green Zone,’’ and the other all the way
up to Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown.
I served primarily in Tikrit, where we
treated not only seriously wounded and
dying American soldiers, but also Marines,
Allied soldiers, Iraqi enemy combatants, and
civilians, some of whom were children. As
the father of three children, the presence of
sick or injured children made me feel deeply
sad at first, but the smiles and tender hearts
m
of the children melted evfep the toughest
souls in the hospital.
Ministry to the patients began as soon
as they were driven or flown to thehpspital.
Whenever we heard the helicopters coming
in, we headed to the emergency room.
I made every effort to meet the patients as
they were unloaded. I wanted to speak a
word of encouragement, trying to help calm
them down as the doctors, medics, and nurs¬
es began to make their head-to-toe examina¬
tions. My place was normally at the patient’s
head, trying to get their name, unit, and
religious preference. I would always ask if
I could pray for them and never remember
being told “No.”
Sometimes, with soldiers in extreme
emotional or physical pain, I had to hold
their heads, look into their eyes, and talk
them through the procedures they were
undergoing. During mass casualty incidents,
I went from bed to bed, talking with each
soldier, letting them know the status of their
friends. This concern for friends was of
utmost importance to them. Chaplains also
ministered to those waiting outside for word
of wounded friends.
There was an interesting dynamic when
we had wounded soldiers and enemy combat¬
ants in the ER or on the wards, at the same
time. Emotions ran high when American
soldiers saw the Iraqis, sometimes from the
same group who had attacked them.
Fear, then surprise, seemed to be the
emotions the Iraqis experienced. They were
initially afraid that we would torture them
in the hospital, or give them second-rate
medical care. One young teenage combatant
even told us he was afraid because he was
told the Americans would eat him. Then
they were surprised that we cared for them
as we did for our own, and further surprised
to meet an American Christian minister
serving as an Army chaplain.
There were some Iraqi Christians in our
hospital, including former deputy prime
minister Tariq Aziz, but most were Muslims.
Interfaith relations leapt from theory into
human flesh when they said I could pray for
their healing, their families, and their nation.
The most heart-wrenching moments
came when a patient died, especially difficult
when we noticed a wedding ring, or pictures
of children in plastic waterproof pouches
around their necks or arms. The hospital
staff would pause for a moment of silence,
then I would give a short prayer, asking for
God’s mercy for the patient and his or her
family, and thanking God for the heroic
efforts of the medical staff. Afterward, many
of us would go off to a corner to shed a tear.
The hospital’s demands tested my faith
in new ways. The presence of the enemy
combatants made me realize the importance
of Jesus’ call to love one’s enemies. I spoke
with many on the staff who wrestled with
dealing with “the enemy.’’ The willingness to
open the door for more than physical healing
was needed here, just as I had earlier experi¬
enced the need for healing in Balkan peace¬
keeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Forgiveness, which often seems to go against
human nature, is the key ingredient in rec¬
onciling relationships. If this did not always
win over new friends in the present, at least
seeds were sown for the future.
Now back home at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina, with my own wife and children,
I remember daily my experiences in that
battlefield hospital. Those conversations
with patients and staff talking about life
and death issues will be uniquely present
with me for a long time, as I hope to have
been present through Christ with those to
whom I ministered. I
John Kiser is a chaplain major with the
44th Medical Command (Airborne) in Fort
Bragg, North Carolina. He is a 1998 graduate
of Princeton Seminary.
inSpire • 25
777 ///W*/ offfe
Fashioning a Theological Community Inclusive of People with Disabilities
by Barbara A. Chaapel
• “I heard the woman say 'There but
for the grace of God go 1' as I sat
in a puddle of milk on the floor of the
grocery store in front of the celery.”
• “I’ve been in the candidacy process
for 10 years and I still have to take four
courses and pass ordination exams
before I can even start looking for a call.”
• “1 don’t want to tell them I have MS
before they even meet me; people
make assumptions that determine
whether or not they want to try to
establish a relationship.”
• “In sixth grade I was identified as a non¬
reader, and 1 always felt an inch away
from being stupid.”
• “The only elevator in Speer Library was
alarmed, and the alarm had to be turned
off every time I used it. It was a big deal,
so I just struggled up the stairs.”
These comments and many like them,
woven through “Making Room at the
Table," PTS’s fall 2004 conference on theo¬
logical education and people with disabili¬
ties, indicate the honesty, the pain, and
the realism of the more than 50 people who
attended. What they do not reveal is the
hope, the humor, and the love for Christ’s
ministry and the church that was palpable
in the Cooper Conference Center that day
in late October.
Students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae
from ten seminaries gathered to talk about
issues that affect people with disabilities who
want to become ministers, as they try to nav¬
igate their way through seminary, ordination,
and finding a job. Most participants knew
what they were talking about: they were
themselves people with disabilities.
Kathy Black, professor of homiletics
and liturgies at Claremont School of
Theology and a United Methodist minis¬
ter, gave the keynote speech via videotape
on a large screen because of her own
disability. “I was raised on a toxic waste
dump in New Jersey,” she said. “Rather
than growing peaches and apples, the land
grew metal canisters of stored waste that
seeped into the lake I swam in, making
it into a toxic soup. It was named the
©
worst toxic waste dump in the U.S.”
She contracted a dysfunction of her
autonomic nervous system that resulted
in what she calls “spells” when she cannot
speak, open her eyes, move her muscles,
or swallow. “My friends call it forced medita¬
tion,” she laughed. The spells come about
twice a week, and flying and time changes
exacerbate them, thus the video screen.
Called “a hidden disability,” Black’s
condition was often unapparent to others.
“I hid it, and tried to stay out of the public
when the spells were coming on. I was
embarrassed.” She never brought it up
during her ordination trials and lived with
it silently for more than 30 years.
During that time, she had a lot of time
to think about what theology, the Bible, and
God had to do with her life. What she dis¬
covered was that the first two were often part
of the problem.
“The church tends to say we need to fix
people with disabilities, as in 'to bind up the
brokenhearted.’ That’s what the church does
well — to provide a space where the body can
cure itself. We start prayer chains, send cards
of concern, bring meals, provide transporta¬
tion to hospitals.
“But binding up also means to tie
down, as in to oppress and to limit. And
Annie from The Matheney School's Arts Access
Program is proud of her painting "Wisdom," part
of the art exhibit in Erdman Hall. Above are other
paintings by Matheney School students.
the church does that, too. We ostracize
people with disabilities. The purity codes
in Leviticus make determinations about who
is clean and who unclean, in order to keep
the pure away from those who are impure.
Historically, the church has singled out peo¬
ple who were deaf, mentally ill, or who have
learning disabilities and excluded them from
the ministry.”
Black critiqued the New Testament,
too, citing its equation of faith with health
(“Your faith has made you whole”) and sin
as a cause of disability.
“We still have our own purity codes,
our ugly codes, in church and seminary,”
she challenged.
But Black added that the New Testament
also speaks a positive word. “In Jesus’ day, ill¬
ness was seen as a communal problem, not
just a problem of the individual. When Jesus
touched people who were impure, he freed
them from isolation; he broke the purity
codes that separated people from people.”
26 * inSpire
winter/spring 2005
Freeing people from isolation seemed to
be what the conference was about, too.
Clearly by bringing together people with dis¬
abilities. But less obviously, by bringing
together the “abled” whose institutions are
isolated by not knowing how to fashion an
inclusive educational community.
All agree that is an enormous task.
Bill Gaventa, director of community and
congregational support at the Boggs Center
on Developmental Disabilities (and husband
of PTS professor Beverly Gaventa), spoke
on a panel on theological curriculum. “How
do we infuse the curriculum with a new way
of looking at people with disabilities?" he
asked. He envisions seeing the enterprise
as a crosscultural experience, “maybe sending
the whole student body to visit a develop¬
ment center like Boggs, like we send stu¬
dents to a foreign mission field.”
Or systematically adding books
on disability to seminary libraries, and
paying more attention to the words
oi hymns and prayers in worship services
that can unwittingly exclude, like “I once
was lost, but now am found, was blind,
but now I see.”
Or developing modules about disability
in every course, not just typically the courses
on pastoral care. “Why not teach about what
vocation means for a person with disability
in a course on the theology of vocation,”
Gaventa proposed. “We need to weave issues
of disability through the life of a seminary."
Jennifer Lord, a PTS graduate who taught
at Lancaster Theological Seminary and now
at Columbia, said that seminaries often have
“an active process of disregard” for students
with disabilities. “I hope we will not hide
behind flat budgets to prevent the changes that
need to happen. We need faculty who can
expand their pedagogical skills to include the
different ways people learn, just as they learned
to work with ecumenical diversity.”
Such a curriculum would thrill Warren
McNeill, a 46-year-old Presbyterian elder
who left a business career to follow God’s call
and has been a ministerial candidate for 10
years and counting. McNeill, who found the
conference announcement while surfing the
PTS web site, calls himself “more than
dyslexic.” He has trouble reading, gathering
information, integrating it, and putting it in
sequential order. That means he finds it hard
to follow directions, and has to read things
many times in order to comprehend them.
“I have to see and hear at the same time
in order to retain information, My language
problem could probably have been overcome
if my teachers had discovered it when I was
in third or fourth grade,” he said. “But it
wasn’t until a professor at Eastern Baptist
Seminary said I was an entirely different
person when I spoke in class than when
I took written exams that we discovered
my disability. From then on he gave me oral
exams and 1 passed the class.”
Wayne Meisel, PTS Class of 1998
and president of the Bonner Foundation
in Princeton, spoke on a panel about chal¬
lenges and progress for students with disabil¬
ities at Princeton Seminary. Dyslexic and
suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD), Meisel told the group “there is
something wonderful about being with
people who get it!” He entered Princeton
Seminary 1 5 years after college, but it was
clear to him that he wouldn’t be ordained:
“Greek and Hebrew were off limits! I took
six years of Latin and at the end, I knew
only one word, canus , “dog.”
When he applied to PTS, he was
told, “We make exceptions for exceptional
people.” At first flattered, he soon realized
that was not a policy, just a “way of playing
favorites.” The Seminary did give him a
tutor for Old Testament, which “was a huge
help.” Less helpful were the 90 audiocassettes
of Calvin’s Institutes from Recording for the
Blind, which did not work in his tape deck.
Ginsburg School Sestina
pull my legs, squeeze my knees. Hard hands.
My back aches. Now my side. My cheek
rubs cold linoleum. Each schoolday morning
Chris wrings my legs. During this work, women
murmur. Phones purr. My green star-sticker gleams on a door-
chart. But the prize dims on yellow paper. All day til the bus.
Fog smears this November morning.
1 tramp toward the orange school bus
idling in the driveway. A woman
in a tight blouse shifts in the drivers seat. Mom hands
me my brown-bagged lunch, kisses my cheek.
The driver stretches a hairy arm to slam the door.
I slide into a seat near the door.
Ripples crease the driver’s neck. This morning
a girl whimpers, hugs a teddy bear to her cheek.
A boy murmurs the Dukes of Hazard theme. The bus
wreaks of diapers and sweat. The driver’s hands
turn on the radio, then grip the wheel. The woman
plays Billy Joel and Boy George. The woman
sags in her seat. 1 rub my eyes. The door
opens for crutches, canes, for spastic legs & hands.
Finally, Ginsburg sparkles big & brown in morning.
My legs quiver. I nearly slip stepping off the bus.
Drizzle. Exhaust. Dampness presses my cheeks.
Therapy right away. The receptionist checks
her clipboard and smiles. Jeannie’s the only woman
at Ginsburg with orange hair. Therapy smells like the bus:
Ammonia and sweat. White everywhere. Gold door¬
knobs gleam, turn, then click. Chris grins: “Good Morning.”
Her Hawaiian-brown face smiles. Her therapist hands
Classmates bend low and rigid over round tables, busy
practicing cursive. Mrs. Jones gives me a pencil, hands
over a sheet of r’s. Recess next. We march outdoors
to swing and slide and play on chalked
blacktop. I watch the fat woman
on duty who never smiles in the morning.
Noon comes. Many hands make paper sacks crackle.
Lunches open like doors.
Ginsburg roasts big and brown as morning ends. The afternoon bus-
driver-woman says she smokes. I smell only sweat & diapers.
Tears tickle my cheeks.
Jeremy Henry Funk
Spring 1995, Revised, Summer 1999
A sestina is a poem of six-line stanzas and one concluding triplet, in which the same six
words end the lines, in a cycling pattern.
inSpire • 27
winter/spring 2005
“Then I realized that not too many blind
people were driving,” he laughed.
He wants the Seminary to create a cul¬
ture of understanding; “Disability is not just
about elevators and ramps,” he said. “It’s
important for the Seminary to remember
the cost of discrimination against disabled
people. We are losing leaders. I did my work
for 20 years outside the church; how differ¬
ent if I could have done it inside."
Ginny Thornburgh, PTS trustee and
vice president and director of the Religion
and Disability Program of the National
Organization on Disability (NOD),
agrees. “We’re proud that PTS’s Center of
Continuing Education has offered a program
on disability every year since 1996, but we’re
not in the Promised Land yet,” she said.
“Along with the Association of Theological
Schools, we at Princeton want to explore the
whole range of theological and educational
issues we need to address to help our semi¬
nary become more welcoming, and to better
serve and serve with people with disabilities
and their families.” According to the NOD,
there are 54 million men, women, and chil¬
dren in America with disabilities.
Thornburgh’s organization works with
congregations, national faith groups, and
seminaries to identify and remove barriers
of architecture, communication, and attitude
that prevent people with disabilities from
full and active religious participation. She
is grateful that Princeton’s new president,
Iain Torrance, is committed to full inclusion
of people with disabilities in the Princeton
community. “He worked on these issues at
Aberdeen,” Thornburgh said, “and under¬
stands that the physical barriers were the
least of the obstacles in education for people
with disabilities, and that we have to think
more than spatially.”
Another major issue the conference
addressed was vocation. Robin Lostetter,
associate pastor of Point Pleasant
Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, describes
herself as having “mobility issues,” and told
of a time that someone said to her “What
have we here, a little cripple?” “I hauled off
and kicked him in the shins,” she said.
“That’s pretty much been my style. I got
tired of people saying things like: ‘Oh, we
had another handicap here this morning.’
“I learned while I was studying at
Rochester Divinity School that people
just didn’t get it, so I became an educator
for them. I had a friend at Princeton, and
I tried to help her see the problems on the
Princeton campus. Like offering people
a class in Stuart Hall via a closed circuit
TV but not realizing they couldn’t get up
the stairs to the building.” (She had kudos,
though, for Erdman Hall’s accessible
entranceway and bathrooms.)
Lostetter was not so direct, though,
when it came to looking for a call. “I didn’t
tell the search committee I was disabled
during the phone interview,” she explained,
“and I didn’t list my disability on my PIF
[job dossier]. You need to let people get
to know you first, so they won’t shut the
door immediately.”
Theo Cornish, a 1995 PTS graduate
now working in the Theological Book
Agency, appreciated her advice. He began
looking for a call to ministry in January, and
hopes to work at a church or on a presbytery
staff in the area of redevelopment or youth
ministry. He has MS, but doesn’t want to say
that right up front.
“I want them to get to know me first,
to establish a relationship, and then I’ll
tell them that I’m a person dealing with MS.
I may not be able to do some things, because
my energy level gets low. But God uses
everything and everyone, and I believe there
is a place I will be called to. I’m waiting
to see what it is, and I’ll be ready.”
Jeremy Funk graduated from Princeton
in 2004 and is back home in Wheaton,
Illinois, looking for a call. He has cerebral
palsy, low vision, and some hearing loss.
“I was educating others as soon as I got
to Princeton,” he says. “I needed note- takers,
and longer times on tests. I needed to sched¬
ule a mobility instructor every week, so PTS
hired a student friend to help me. I learned
to describe to people that getting from Point
A to Point B was different than getting from
Point B to Point A.
“Friendship is so important. There are
classmates who wanted to help, yet some
created too much of a dependency. I needed
interdependence. Friendship is solidarity
more than helping.”
One way Funk expresses his feelings is
through poetry. He has an M.A. in English
and loves to write. He will teach freshman
writing this fall at Wheaton College while
he looks for a call in ministry.
A member of the Mennonite Church,
he is considering doing CPE and becoming
a chaplain. Another possibility is working
through Young Life’s Capernaum Project,
which ministers to young people with dis¬
abilities. “I would love to be a sort of spiritu¬
al companion to kids,” he said. “If I could
get a kid through high school having a better
time than I had, that would really use my
gifts and experience.”
The gifts of kids with disabilities were
patently clear to attendees at “Making Room
at the Table.” Beautiful art created by the
students at the Matheny School in Peapack,
New Jersey, hung in the Erdman Gallery
during the conference. The school’s art access
program brings severely disabled children
and adults together with professional artists,
who help them to create paintings, dance,
and music that express their feelings.
“They tell us through art what they feel,
and that their humanity is alive and well,”
Matheny staffer Daniel Vallejo said when
PTS welcomed him and five of his students
to a reception at Erdman Gallery. “We don’t
see art as therapy, but as a means to help our
students express their souls.
“It’s inspiring when someone who can’t
move can express his or her feelings in paint
or wheelchair dance. All of our students
make us humble with their passion and per¬
sistence. They are all accomplished artists.”
Sitting in her wheelchair, her grin
dwarfing her twisted body, Annie slowly
described one ol her paintings. “I like it
because I like the color green,” she said.
“It’s called ‘Wisdom,’ from the Bible.”
Wisdom — a gift that people with disabil¬
ities can certainly give theological education
and the church, a
“Making Room at the Table” was
cosponsored by Princeton Theological Seminary,
Auburn Theological Seminary, Moravian
Theological Seminary, The Religion
and Disability Program of the National
Organization on Disability, The Elizabeth M.
Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities,
and the Pennsylvania Developmental
Disabilities Council, which provided
generous funding.
28 • inSpire
9
(/)
<A
o
♦-
o
JZ
a
winter/spring 2005
by Wesley H. Goldsberry
With his May graduation just several
months away, Matt Schultz found himself hap¬
pily mired in the call process, perhaps one arti¬
fact shy of a truly distinctive pastoral portfolio.
“I didn’t think to record it,” he said of a
unique sermon he preached in Miller Chapel.
And no mere audiotape would have done
it justice.
“As 1 preached, I painted a landscape that
interlinked with the sermon. It was a chal¬
lenge, but I think it turned out really well.”
For an aspiring minister who had been
dabbling in visual art since the age of three,
taking a paintbrush into the pulpit was per¬
haps as inevitable as graduating from crayons
to pencils. The sermon showed, as well as
any juncture along his vocational journey
could, that embracing ministry might not
have to mean relinquishing what some have
seen as a competing passion — his art.
Schultz, a fourth-year dual-degree
student at PTS, was raised in minuscule
Steventown, New York, in the Berkshires, the
first in a sequence of scenic locales that has
inspired Schultz’s artistry. It was art that pro¬
pelled him into undergraduate school, but
his years at Westminster College were, more
than anything, the first chapter in discover¬
ing the surpassing complexity of God’s
designs for human life.
“I didn’t want to do art as my career,”
Schultz said. “I just wanted it to be some¬
thing I did because I loved to do it. The
chaplain [at Westminster] was someone
I really connected with as a mentor, and
I became more interested in the ministry.”
Following college, he and his wife,
Elizabeth (herself a 2004 graduate of PTS),
seized on a job opportunity at the First
Presbyterian Church of Anchorage, Alaska.
“We were both looking for an adventure,”
Matt said. “We prayed about it, and off we
went. It was the best four years of our lives.”
Not to mention one of the best natural
backdrops a muralist could hope for.
“Seeing the beauty of the landscape just
inspires that artistic element,” he said.
“Before the move, I had done more black-
and-white stuff, but up there I was seeing
in color a lot more.”
Schultz put his talents to work, painting
a few murals for both fun and profit.
Gradually, the boundary between vocation
and avocation blurred. While art had proven
an ideal occasional respite from ministry, he
began to see it as a conduit through which
ministry could be done. While on a mission
trip to Mexico, Schultz managed to help
some local children with novel forms of art¬
work, a rejuvenating experience for the kids,
and one that saw their erstwhile instructor
“having a blast.”
Since 2001, when he came to Princeton,
Schultz has continued to employ his craft
in healing ways.
“For people who are feeling a certain
way, 1 can try to express those feelings
through my artwork,” he said.
One of Schultz’s latest projects adorns
a wall in the front stairwell of the Hodge
House, now home to the family of associate
professor Kenda Dean, Schultz’s adviser in
the dual-degree program.
“Matt really took the first step for us
to make this house into a home,” Dean said.
“At first he was thinking of painting some
really serious things; then he got to know
us and had another idea.”
The resulting mural, which imbeds
images of various Dean family “icons” into
a unified landscape, features a frolicsome
bear prominently in the foreground. The
bear commemorates the family’s first night
in the Hodge House, when an actual bear
paid an unexpected and thus far unrepeated
visit to the Deans’ backyard.
“It’s much more fun to know that it’s not
‘my’ artwork going up,” Schultz said. “I’m
helping to get their heart and soul up on the
wall as opposed to my own personal agenda."
“We’re just grateful to have a little
whimsy in Hodge House,” Dean added.
A second Matt Schultz original can
be found in the nursery at his church in
Wrightstown, Pennsylvania, where he recent¬
ly finished painting his own rendering of
Noah’s Ark. He hopes to keep himself busy
with similar projects for as long as his family
calls Princeton home.
The church’s relationship to art has his¬
torically been tenuous at best. But Schultz
sees two enterprises that share critical func¬
tional similarities.
“My approaches to ministry and art are
similar,” Schultz said. “In ministry, you try
to get out of the way and let God’s work be
done. When my art is at its best, I feel like I’m
not doing much of it on my own; just that I’ve
been given a gift to have these kinds of things
work through me. There’s a similar process in
which I humbly try to get out of the way.”
It is no accident, then, that Schultz finds
his soul captive to these two passions, equal
but by no means opposite. Even as ministry
may entail a life of many sacrifices, art will
not be one of them. I
Wes Goldsberry (’04B), formerly an
editorial assistant for inSpire, teaches
religious studies at St. Andrew’s School
in Middletown, Delaware.
inSpire • 29
winter/spring 2005
940 Donald C. Kerr Jr. (B) has
moved to Plymouth Harbor in Sarasota,
Florida, and serves as chaplain of the Ivy
League Club and of the Princeton Club
of Sarasota. He is also the secretary ol
Princeton University’s Class ol 1937.
1946 Robert Vogt (B) has written that
he and Virginia Ford Redfield ('48e)
were married in March 2004. They struck
up a correspondence from their homes in
Willits, California, and Edmonds,
Washington, after losing their spouses,
Robert his wife, Sallee, in January 2003
and Virginia her husband, Dick Redfield
('46B), in December 1 997. Vogt writes
that “after wonderful hours on the phone we
decided that we should get closer, so I moved
to an apartment in Edmonds and ultimately
decided it was God’s call for us to become
one. For a couple of octogenarians to be this
happy may give others hope! We are both
asked again and again, ‘Are you two still
grinning all the time?’ For the record, we
are still grinning! Life is so good. ”▼
1950 John H. Scott (B) recently
retired lor the third time, this time
from serving as parish associate at Fox
Chapel Presbyterian Church in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
195 ; Genevieve Kozinski Jacobs
(E) teaches a class on writing your memoirs,
and “would welcome visitors at my home at
Carlsbad by the Sea Retirement Community
in Carlsbad, California.”
David Glenn Walker (b) is
retired and living in his mountain home at
1 1,000 leet above sea level in the beautiful
ski country of Breckenridge, Colorado, and
wintering in Sun City, Arizona.
955 Robert Millspaugh (B) serves
as parish associate at The Presbyterian
Church in Coshocton, Ohio.
1956 After serving the First Church
of Christ in Woodbridge, Connecticut, for
close to 20 years, Boyd Johnson (B)
has retired as its pastor.
1958 Since graduating with his Ph.D.
from PTS in 1966, Donald Borchert
(B, '66D) taught at Juniata College in
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, for one year and
then joined the laculty of the Philosophy
Department at Ohio University, where he
has remained. He served as associate dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences lor six years
and as chair of the Philosophy Department
for 1 5 years. He is currently devoting his
time to teaching and scholarly work as edi¬
tor-in-chief for Macmillan’s ten-volume sec¬
ond edition of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
to be published in 2005. He has been happi¬
ly married to his wife, Mary Ellen Cockrell,
for 44 years, and they have a daughter,
Carol, and a son, John, both of whom are
married and working in the Washington,
D.C., area.
Robert R Vaughn (B) retired in 1996
after 20 years with the United Way of King
County in Washington State. His email
address is bobandlindagv@msn.com.
Roger M. Kunkel (B) rises each
morning at 5:00 a.m. in Sarasota, Florida,
to record a briei message for Dial Hope. He
writes, “We receive between 3,000 and 4,000
calls every month from each state and five
countries. The toll-lree number is 866-528-
4673.” He is a parish associate at the First
Presbyterian Church in Sarasota.
Class Notes may be edited for length or clarity,
and should include the writer's name, degree(s),
year(s) of graduation, address, and telephone
number. We receive many class notes and
try to print them all, but because the magazine
is published three times a year, that is not
always possible.
Photographs are welcome, but upon discretion of
the editor may not be used due to the quality of
the photograph or space limitations. Photographs
may be submitted electronically as long as they
are a high-quality resolution of at least 300 dpi.
Key to Abbreviations:
Upper-case letters designate degrees
earned at PTS:
M.Div. B D.Min. P
M.R.E. E Th.D. D
M.A. E Ph.D. D
Th.M. M
Special undergraduate student U
Special graduate student G
When an alumnus/a did not receive a degree,
a lower-case letter corresponding to those above
designates the course of study.
Barton B. Leach (B, '67M) and his wife,
Ruth, celebrated their 50th wedding anniver¬
sary last September 5. The Leaches live in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Edward O. Poole (M) works part time lor
the Abington, Pennsylvania, YMCA, direct¬
ing after-school programs.
1960 John H.Valk (B) writes,
“A desire to revisit the Seminary has been
kindled with the happy memories of my
middler year in Edinburgh, with its
dynamic faculty, including the father of
President Iain Torrance!”
Thomas A. Erickson (M)
has finished two years as interim pastor
at The National Presbyterian Church in
Washington, D.C., and hopes to “remain
retired lor a few months!” His email
address is tericksonl@cox.net.
Ronald Soucy (B) writes, “After
reading Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest
Generation , I decided to write a book
about what it was like lor me as a member
30 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
SR take a bow
Deborah Dockstader ('77B)
has been honored by being listed
in the 2004-2005 edition of
Marquis Who's Who In American
Women. Biographies for inclu¬
sion in this book are selected on
the basis of position, noteworthy
accomplishments, visibility, and
prominence in their field.
Dockstader is pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church in Girard,
Ohio, and Southside Presbyterian
Church in Niles, Ohio. She has
served churches in Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.
In addition, she has served as the associate executive director
of Inter-Church Ministries, a regional ecumenical agency encom¬
passing the northwestern quarter of Pennsylvania. She currently
serves on the board of Niles Community Services and on the
Permanent Judicial Commission and the Committee on Ministry
of Eastminster Presbytery.
Hawley Wolfe ('81 B), pastor of Broadmoor Presbyterian
Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was named Louisiana
Preacher of the Year for 2003 by the Louisiana Moral and
Civic Foundation.
Rosemary E. Jeffries ('83E), president of Georgian Court
University in Lakewood, New Jersey, was honored for her ser¬
vice and leadership at the thirteenth annual Sister of Mercy
Benefit Dinner Dance last November. She is the eighth president
of the university and, in the words of the award, has "brought
to her role a thorough understanding of higher education and
leadership experience, both secular and religious."
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette ('85B) has written a new hymn that
made news last fall. "InTimes of Great Decision" is a hymn-
prayer for before the presidential election. The National Council
of Churches of Christ in the USA had the hymn on the home
page of their web site and sent out a news release on the hymn.
Church World Service had it placed on their web site as well,
and NBC in New York planned to do a story about the hymn.
Dean B. McIntyre, director of music resources at the United
Methodist General Board of Discipleship, has formatted the
hymn with the text and music together:
http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_
id=12844&locJd=1 7,823.
of that generation. It was published by
the internet publisher iUniverse and titled
One of the Greatest Generation .”
Marshall Stanton (M) serves as governor
of Rotary International District 5670, the
northwest 38 counties in Kansas. He was
elected to the one-year position two years
ago in order to participate in training with
529 other governors in the worldwide
organization. He joined the Colby, Kansas,
Rotary Club in 1971 and served club and
district positions previously. He retired from
Kansas Wesleyan University’s presidency in
2002 after 18-1/2 years. His career in the
United Methodist ministry has also included
pastoring local churches and serving as dis¬
trict superintendent of the Hutchinson
District from 1978 to 1984. He and his
wife, Janice, live in Salina.
1962 Eugene C. Bay (B) was honor¬
ably retired in October from the Bryn
Mawr Presbyterian Church in Bryn Mawr,
Pennsylvania, where he had served since
1987 as pastor and head of staff. He also
served for the past three years as comodera¬
tor of the Covenant Network of
Presbyterians. He is a member of the Board
of Trustees of the Presbyterian Church
Foundation, McCormick Seminary,
and the College of Wooster. He recently
published A Sower Went Out , a compilation
of 42 of his sermons.
1964 As of June 2003, David G.
Burke (M) is retired from his position
as dean of the Eugene A. Nida Institute for
Biblical Scholarship at the American Bible
Society in New York City. Starting in 1987,
he served the American Bible Society as
director of translations for 14 years, until
assuming the Nida Institute deanship
in 2001. From 1983 to 1987 he served
as director for studies in the USA National
Committee for the Lutheran World
Federation, in which capacity he coordinated
the USA Lutheran-Roman Catholic
Dialogue during those years. From 1974
to 1982 he was Lutheran university pastor
at Rutgers University, and taught in the
Department of Religion. He also served
Lutheran parishes in Lindsey, Ohio, and
Elkader, Iowa, following ordination in 1964.
In addition to his Th.M. degree from
PTS, Burke has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins
University (1974). He is married to Peggy
Stevens Burke and they live in Morristown,
New Jersey. Since October 2003 Burke
had been serving as interim pastor at Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City.
Ronald C. White Jr.'s (B) new book, The
Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln
through His Words, was published by
Random House in January. It was also
chosen as the main selection of the History
Book Club for March and an alternate
selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club
for March.
1 965 John A. Gilmore (M) retired
last July as pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church in Milford, Delaware, after serving
for 18 years. His pastorate was the second
longest there since 1850.
in Spire • 31
winter/spring 2005
Mark L. Walvoord (M) retired
from active ministry last July, and planned to
move to Holland, Michigan, with his wife.
1 968 Rick Brand's (B) book Sermons
on the Second Readings has been published
by C.S.S. Publishing Company and is
now available online and at bookstores.
Brand currently serves the First Presbyterian
Church in Henderson, North Carolina, and
has previously served at Bethel Presbyterian
Church in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and
the First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh,
North Carolina.
George Skaris (B), Kathy Nelson
('80B, 86M), Dorothy Hanle, and
Mark Hestenes ('75B, '84M), gathered
on October 14 at the Westcliffe Hotel in
Johannesburg, South Africa, for an alumni
gathering. They are pictured below left to
right. Nelson, a PTS trustee, was traveling
with Hanle, a member of her church in
Dayton, New Jersey. Skaris and Hestenes
hope to begin an active PTS alumni/ae
group in South Africa. V
1970 Harold E. Reed (E) retired in
August 2002 from congregational pastor and
district overseer duties in Mennonite church¬
es in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is currently
a "half-time-plus chaplain” at Garden Spot
Village Retirement Community in New
Holland, Pennsylvania.
197 Mark A. Davies (M) was recent¬
ly elected chairman of the board of trustees
ol the Institute for Christian Studies in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an
ordained minister in the Christian Reformed
Church, presently serving as senior pastor of
the Second Christian Reformed Church in
Lynden, Washington. The Institute for
Christian Studies is a Christian graduate
school that provides graduate education that
addresses the spiritual foundations of learn¬
ing. Davies’ term began in May of 2004.
1972 Brian H. Childs (B, '73M)
is director of clinical ethics at Shore Health
System ol Maryland. His email address
is bchilds@shorehealth.org.
M. William Howard Jr. (B), pastor
of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark,
New Jersey, was inducted last July as
a public member of the board of governors
of Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey. He will serve until June 2007.
Jack R.Van Ens (B, '74M, '84P) is
president of Creative Growth
Ministries, enhancing
Christian worship through
storytelling and through dra¬
matic presentations of
Thomas Jefferson and Jonathan
Edwards. He was invited a
second time to be a visiting
scholar in spring 2005 at
Monticello’s International
Center for Jefferson Studies,
where he continued research
on a book, Why FDR
Portrayed Himself as a Second
Jefferson. His email address is
vanensfam@juno.com.
9 3 Roger C. Harp (B) was elected
in summer 2003 to serve as executive/stated
clerk/treasurer for the Synod of the Mid-
Atlantic (PCUSA), and installed last
summer. The offices of the synod are
in Richmond, Virginia. Former General
Assembly moderator Fahed Abu-Akel
preached the installation sermon.
I 9 74 John Andrew Patton (M)
recently retired after 13 years as Master
of King’s College, University ol
Queensland, in Australia. His email
address is aurelian4@optusnet.com.au.
9 76 Suzanne Coyle (B, '84D)
has been appointed as a new faculty member
at Christian Theological Seminary (CTS)
in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is assistant
professor of pastoral theology and marriage
and family therapy, and will also serve
as director of the seminary’s Marriage and
Family Therapy Program. She comes to
CTS from the Kentucky Baptist Homes
for Children, where she had been director
of cornerstone counseling. Coyle is also
pastor of New Freedom Baptist Church
(ABC) in North Vernon, Indiana.
Victor Pandian (U) is regional coordina¬
tor for East Asia (Japan, North and South
Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Hong Kong,
Macau, and Singapore) Community and
Prayer Ministry, and for Mongolia affairs at
East Asia regional headquarters in Singapore.
His email address is vicpand@eao.com.sg.
S 9 7 7 Robert Hull (D), dean and
professor ol New Testament at Emmanuel
School of Religion in Johnson City,
Tennessee, was the keynote speaker
at Milligan College’s inauguration of the
Henry and Emerald Webb “In Search
of Christian Unity” Lecture Series. Hull
was the first National Merit Scholar to
study at Milligan College.
Sandra Murphy (B) recently became
pastor of St. Andrews United Methodist
Church in Spring Lake, New Jersey. She has
been in ministry in the United Methodist
Church in New Jersey lor 27 years.
Douglas S. Nau (B) received a Ph.D.
in family therapy from Nova-Southeastern
University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,
in 1997. He is currently a psychotherapist
32 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
Class notes
in private and group practices in Ft. Myers,
Florida. His email address is dnau@aol.com.
1978 Jeffrey G. Guild (B) serves
as wing chaplain at Osan Air Base in Korea.
1979 After 13 years as pastor/head
of staff at the First Presbyterian Church
of Wheaton, Illinois, Douglas J. Brower
(B) recently accepted the call to become
pastor/head of staff of the First Presbyterian
Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Phyllis M. Felton (B) received her
D.Min. from United Theological Seminary
in May 1995. She lives in Baltimore,
Maryland, works as a community organizer
lor the Greater Homewood Community
Corporation, Inc., and is the mother
of two daughters, and grandmother to
Bryant and Sidney. Her email address is
pfelton@greaterhomewood.org.
1980 In August, Richard Allen
Farmer (B) was the guest speaker
at the First Baptist Church’s annual Days
of Renewal in Greensburg, Indiana. He
is a world-renowned Bible expositor and
concert artist.
I 982 Ron Baard (B) began a new post
as associate professor of mentored practice at
Bangor Theological Seminary in Portland
and Bangor, Maine, on July 1, 2003. He is
enjoying teaching in the Master ol Divinity
program and the Bangor Plan program. He
and his wife, Mary, and their two daughters,
Lauren and Karin, are enjoying living in
Maine, “a big change from Phoenix,
Arizona,” where they lived lor many years.
Jane F. Holsiag (B) is on study leave
and is living and working in the Berlin
(Germany) area. She has put her mission
coworker status on hold and is working half
time as a pastor in the German church and
half time doing doctoral research in eastern
Germany on oral history. Her email address
is jholslag@lcc.t.
1983 Nicolaas Alexander
Likumahuwa (E) is a senior lecturer
at Satya Wacana Christian University
in Salatiga, Indonesia. His email address
is alifuru@yahoo.com.
Thomas Malek-Jones (B) is chief of
chaplain service at VA New Jersey Health
Care System in East Orange, New Jersey.
He is also an Individual Mobilization
Augmentee (IMA) to the Office of the
Chief of Chaplains for Historical Records,
United States Air Force. His email address
is thomas.malek-jones@med.va.gov.
1984 Wesley Avram (B) edited
and contributed to a book responding to
the United States government’s priorities
in the war on terror, called Anxious about
Empire: Theological Essays on the New Global
Realities (Brazos Press, 2004). PTS alumnus
Allen Hilton ('89B) also has an essay in
the volume.
Patricia E. Howery Davis (B, '92D)
has joined the Dallas office of Jackson
Walker L.L.P. as an associate in the litigation
section. Her expertise is in civil litigation,
primarily in the areas of labor and employ¬
ment and intellectual property. ▼
J.W. Cejka III (B) was awarded the
Ph.D. in philosophy by Buxton University
in London, England, last July.
Joyce M. Graue (B) is moving from
Papua, New Guinea, to West Africa, and
will be studying French and learning about
the West African culture. In early 2006 she
will begin work with the Lutheran Church
(ELCA Division for Global Mission) in the
Central African Republic.
Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion (B)
has published a new book designed specifi¬
cally for Christians who would like to use
the labyrinth for personal meditation or
communal Christian worship. The book,
Christian Prayer and Labyrinths , offers
a brief summary of the Christian history
of labyrinths, both Hebrew and Christian
Scripture texts with a question and prayer
connected to each text, and a section on
experiencing Christ in the labyrinth that
contains prayers and poems.
John W. Groth (B) , an air force reserve
chaplain, was activated in March 2003 and
is still serving at Dover Air Force Base with
the 512th Airlift Wing and at Dover’s Port
Mortuary. Upon coming off of active duty,
he will return to Priority One Foundation,
a ministry to men and their families. His
email address is jgroth@priorityone.org.
Scott R.R Janney (B) is the director of
planned giving at St. Mary Medical Center
in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. His wife,
Rebecca Price Janney ('84B), is contin¬
uing her writing and speaking ministry.
John A. Vissers (M) is principal of
The Presbyterian College in Montreal,
Quebec, Canada. He is also a faculty
lecturer in Christian theology at McGill
University in Montreal. His email address
is javissers@hotmail.com.
1985 Noel Anderson (B) was married
to Tara Morris by his brother
Kirt Anderson ('79B) at the First
Presbyterian Church of Naples, Florida,
on September 25. Also in attendance
were PTS graduates Daniel D. Meyer
('85B), John Klingelhoffer ('83B),
Carter Via ('86B), and Stephen
Heinzel-Nelson ('85B).
William A. Evertsberg (B, '04P) has
been named to the Greenwich (Connecticut)
Emergency Medical Service board. He is pas¬
tor and head of staff of the First Presbyterian
Church in Greenwich and a member of the
inSpire • 33
winter/spring 2005
ass notes
Are you surfing the web?
You can now submit your class note on the web! Keep us informed by visiting our
alumni/ae web site at:
http://www.ptsem.edu/bond/submitnotes.htm
Committee on Preparation for the Ministry,
Presbytery of Southern New England.
Susan de Puy Kershaw (M) was
ordained on November 6 as an Episcopal
priest and installed as the rector of
St. John’s Episcopal Church in Walpole,
New Hampshire.
1 988 Scott M. Gibson (M) has
been installed as the inaugural occupant
of the Haddon W. Robinson Professorship
of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary. He is the founding director of the
school’s nationally recognized Center for
Preaching, director of the Th.M. program
in preaching, and has been a faculty member
since 1992. He is an ordained minister
of the American Baptist Churches in the
USA, and serves as president of American
Baptist Evangelicals. ▼
John S. Munday (M) serves as a layper¬
son on the Minneapolis Area Synod of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
He has just published his second book,
Justice for Marlys: A Family’s Twenty-Year
Search for a Killer, released by the University
of Minnesota Press in October. He writes,
“As the husband of the mother of Marlys
Wohlenhaus, an 1 8-year-old girl murdered
in May 1979, I relate the true account of the
1 7-year investigation that led to the capture
and conviction of serial killer Joseph Ture Jr.”
Munday’s first book, Surviving the Death
of a Child, was published in 1995 by
Westminster John Knox Press.
Steve Yamaguchi (B) served more
than 14 years during the renewal of Grace
Presbyterian Church in Paramount/Long
Beach, California, and is now executive
presbyter for the Presbytery of Los Ranchos
in Southern California. He has just complet¬
ed two years of contributing the “Bible
Explorations” column in Presbyterians Today
magazine. He is also concluding six years
as a trustee of San Francisco Theological
Seminary, but he continues his service of
many years on the Westmont College board.
He also keeps his fingers in theological
education by enjoying his studies at the
Claremont School of Theology. He and his
wife, Alison, with their daughters Lydia and
Joy, live in Long Beach.
1 989 Sung Kee Ho (B, '90M) is
the founder of the Antioch Church of
Philadelphia and of Professionals for Global
Missions (PGM). The church celebrated its
10th anniversary in October with a fall
festival, a church building dedication service,
a world mission conference with guest
speaker Dr. Sang H. Lee, PTS’s professor
of systematic theology and director of the
Asian American Program.
Carey Anne Meyer LaSor (b)
has been named full-time coordinator
of Young Presbyterian Scholars,
a program at Westminster College
in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.
Janet L. Parker (B) did a postdoctoral fel¬
lowship at the Center lor the Study
of Religion at Princeton University from
September 2004 to June 2005. Her email
address is jlparker@princeton.edu.
Bob Rognlien (B) is senior pastor
ol the Lutheran Church of the Good
Shepherd in Torrance, California. His first
book, Experiential Worship: Encountering
God with Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength
(NavPress), was released January 15, 2005.
The book offers a biblical paradigm
and practical ideas for developing more
complete worship experiences in any
congregational setting. For more informa¬
tion, visit www.experientialworship.com.
Eriberto (Eddie) Soto (M) served as an
official interpreter/translator for the 24th
General Assembly of the World Alliance
of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
(WARC) in Accra, Ghana, last July and
August. He writes, “WARC is the umbrella
organization for the majority of Presbyterian
and Reformed churches around the world
and celebrates a General Assembly every
seven years. Delegates come from around the
world to participate in the council’s many
decisions for life and ministry. The Christian
people of Ghana are just wonderful and their
hospitality was truly overwhelming!”
990 Suzanne Watts Henderson
(B) earned a Ph.D. in New Testament
at Duke in May 2004. Her former PTS
professor, Joel Marcus, directed her disserta¬
tion on the Gospel of Mark. She now teach¬
es as assistant professor of religion at Salem
College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Douglas A. Madden (B) has accepted
a call as pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church of Bath, New York. He and his
wife of eight years, Patricia, have relocated
to the Village of Bath from Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania.
Phil C. Zylla (M) recently began his
second term as the principal of the
Associated Canadian Theological Schools
of Trinity Western University in Vancouver,
British Columbia.
99 Steven Y. Jhu (B) has moved
from Hawaii, after 10 years of pastoral min-
34 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
Class notes
Weddings
Virginia Redfield ('48e) and Robert Vogt ('46B), March 27, 2004
Tara Morris and Noel Anderson ('85B), September 25, 2004
Constance Joye Smith and Steven James Munson ('88B), June 12, 2004
Emily J. Stewart and Dennis W. Jones ('90B, '99m), October 23, 2004
Judy Cuthbertson ('94B) and James C. Packard, May 1, 2004
Melissa L. Kelly ('95B) and Dennis P. Laughren, August 21, 2004
Chris Berwanger ('98B) and Nelio Carrasco, August 29, 2004
Melissa Kelly and Joel Lindsey ('00B), September 5, 2004
Lisa Bernal ('01 D) and Matthew James Corley, July 17, 2004
Rebecca Jewel Crumpler and Jeffrey Philip Mathis ('01 B), July 10, 2004
Erin K. Kesterson ('02B, current Ph.D. candidate) and Benjamin J. Bowers ('05B),
May 29, 2004
Gayle A. Taylor and Nicholas C. Hatch ('02B), November 27 2004
Julia DeLorme Dunson (’04B) andTrey Walton Meredith, July 31, 2004
Births
David Harrison Janney to Rebecca Price Janney ('84B) and Scott R.R Janney ('84B)
on June 8, 2004
William Ernest Cobb to Heidi Gehman ('94B) and Kelton Cobb ('85B)
on February 29, 2004
Augustin Blanchard Moody to Kate Blanchard ('97B) and Chris Moody ('98B)
on September 6, 2004
Zachary Ethan Goode and Zoe Grace Goode to Amy Snow ('00B) and
Edward Goode ('99B) on May 28, 2004
istry there, to Chicago, where he serves as
senior pastor of Grace Community Church.
! 992 Rachel Hamburger (B) is
associate pastor for congregational care
and development at the First Presbyterian
Church in Roseville, California.
Berlinda Love (B) has published a new
book, Sermons from the Heart: A Collection
of Divinely Inspired Devotional Sermons,
A Special Tribute.
1 993 Lisa Hair (B) was installed as
interim pastor of St. James Lutheran Church
in West York, Pennsylvania, last July.
Gregg R. Kaufman (M) was appointed
in October as the director of the Paul
Coverdell Institute and Archives at Georgia
College and State University in Milledgeville,
Georgia. The institute promotes public
policy research and civic engagement among
students and faculty. He brought to a con¬
clusion 29-plus years of continuous service
in parish ministry in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
Patricia M.B. Kitchen (B) recently
became associate pastor at the First
Presbyterian Church in Shreveport,
Louisiana. She will lead new efforts in
outreach, international, and family min¬
istries. She previously served as associate
pastor for mission and urban-suburban
ministries at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian
Church in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Gary Sallquist (B) has published a new
book, For the Love of God (AuthorHouse,
2004), Sallquist’s reflections on the actual
classroom comments of David Willis, PTS’s
Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic
Theology Emeritus, while Sallquist was
a student at the Seminary from 1990 to
1993 and Willis was the chair of the
Theology Department.
Judy Cuthbertson (B) received
the D.Min. degree in parish revitalization
from McCormick Theological Seminary last
May. She also received the John Randall
Hunt Prize for outstanding D.Min. thesis
and academic record. Her thesis was titled
“Mission and Vision: Reflections on Athletic
Performance and the Body of Christ.”
Cuthbertson is pastor of St. Mark’s
Presbyterian Church in Lomita, California.
Elizabeth A. Perry (B) is pastor
of the First Church Baldwin United
Methodist on Long Island. Her email
address is bethperry@optonline.net.
Troy White (b) is completing his doctoral
dissertation at Trinity Theological Seminary
in Newburgh, Indiana. He would love to
hear from former classmates. His email
address is trywht@yahoo.com.
1 995 Harry J. Van Buren III (B) is an
assistant professor of business and society at
the University of New Mexico’s Anderson
Schools of Management. His email address
is vanburen@mgt.unm.edu.
1 996 Tokunbo Adelekan (B, '02D),
assistant professor of theology and ethics
at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and associate
minister of Monumental Baptist Church
in West Philadelphia, has written a book
on African proverbs, African Wisdom: 101
Proverbs from the Motherland (Judson Press).
It explores a sampling of African sayings
and discusses their connection to God,
Christianity, and the ageless lessons they
teach. Adelekan says he also wrote the
book to reexamine his experience as the
son of an African father and an African
American mother.
William Dembski (B) has been hired
by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
to direct its new Center for Science and
inSpire • 35
winter/spring 2005
Theology. He was previously a professor
at Baylor University.
99 Harry A. Cubberley (b) works
as lead clinician at the Woodhaven Center,
a facility housing dual-diagnosis (MR/MH)
men, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His
email address is cubbsy@verizon.net.
Minnesota. His email address
is pastor.scott@mountcalvary.org.
1998 The First Presbyterian Church
of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, recently
celebrated its first anniversary with
Tracie Bullis (B). She came to Philipsburg
from the Shenandoah Presbyterian Church
in Virginia.
Kyle D. Hite (B) is pastor of Rocky
River Presbyterian Church in Concord,
North Carolina. His email address
is khite@carolina.rr.com.
Chris J. Jackson (B) teaches in a public
high school and is considering applying
for a Ph.D. in theology. His email address
is kneelingchris@msn.com.
Matthew Davis (B) is associate pastor
for mission and pastoral care at the First
Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. He is enjoying the mountains of
New Mexico with his wife, Jennifer, and
their son Hudson and daughter Drew.
Greg L. Finch (B) is currently fulfilling
requirements for a Doctor of Ministry
in spirituality, medicine, and ministry with
an emphasis in the arts. As part ol his
program, he is studying as an associate fellow
with Dr. Christina Puchalski at the George
Washington Institute for Spirituality and
Health at the George Washington University
Medical School in Washington, D.C.,
where he is exploring the intersection of
sensory vocabularies of the arts, spiritual
life, and medicine. He currently serves as
cochair of the new Spiritual Life, Arts, and
Healthcare Task Force for the Society for
the Arts in Healthcare.
He also teaches courses in spiritual life,
creativity, and the arts at Wesley Theological
Seminary Center for Lay Education, the
Clergy Symposium at Texas Children’s
Hospital at the Texas Medical Center, and as
part of the Practice of Medicine Curriculum
at the George Washington University
Medical School. His email address is
greg@wildgeeseamongus.com.
Emily W. Koehler (B) serves at large
in Tampa Bay Presbytery while she
seeks a call in the Pittsburgh area. Her
email address is dande_koehler@veri-
zon.net.
Scott Searl (B) is pastor of
stewardship at Mount Calvary
Lutheran Church in Excelsior,
After completing a joint postdoctoral fellow¬
ship at the Dibner Institute (MIT) and
the Harvard University History of Science
Department, Matthew Daniel Eddy (B)
has been appointed lecturer in the history
and philosophy of science at the University
of Durham, England. He continues to serve
on committees attached to the European
Science Foundation and the Max Planck
Institute for the History of Science.
Ryan D. Shrauner (B) is pastor
ol the First Presbyterian Church ol
Woodburn, Oregon.
999 Skip Ferguson (B) recently
began his D.Min. back at PTS. John
Pruitt ('99B) is also in the program,
as is Baron Mullis ('OOB).
Edward Goode (B) and Amy
Snow ('OOB) share the wonderful
news that they are proud parents ol twins!
Zachary Ethan Goode and Zoe Grace
Goode were born last May. They write
that “both are healthy and are doing
wonderfully. God has blessed us doubly!” ▼
2000 Katherine J. Gwynne (M)
teaches religious education to 1 1 -to- 18-year-
olds in a state school in Devon, England.
Joel Lindsey (B) serves as worship/arts
intern for The Journey, a new church plant
in St. Louis, Missouri. The non-denomina-
tional church exists to “love God, connect
people, and transform the world” with the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
James J. McCullough (B, '01M)
was appointed assistant professor of Bible
and theology at Somerset Christian College
in June 2004. The college is an accredited
institution granting the associates degree in
biblical studies that hopes to begin a four-
year degree program soon. McCullough con¬
tinues to serve in a part-time capacity with
InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries
at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton
University, and with the Rutgers Graduate
Fellowship of Rutgers University. He lives
in Hamilton, New Jersey, with his wife, Jill,
and their daughter Lydia.
Katie Pate (B) has been installed as
associate pastor of Rose City
Park Presbyterian Church in
Portland, Oregon.
200 Lisa Bernal-Corley (D)
has been promoted to the rank of
associate professor at the School
of Theology and Christian Ministry,
Point Loma Nazarene University
in San Diego, California. Her email
address is lisabernal@ptloma.edu.
36 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
Class notes
Wesley S.T. (Thuthi) Niles (E) writes,
“I am a few months into my fourth year as
director of youth ministry for the United
Methodist Church ol Geneva, Illinois.
I would especially like to hear from fellow
M.A.s who graduated with me in 2001.”
His email address is thuthi@genevaumc.org.
John H. Sawyer (B) is associate
pastor of Northminster Presbyterian
Church in Macon, Georgia. He was
ordained on September 26, 2004, as a minis¬
ter of Word and Sacrament in the
Presbyterian Church (USA). His email
address is johnhardinsawyer@hotmail.com.
2002 Esther E. Acolatse (D) is
an assistant professor at Duke Divinity
School in Durham, North Carolina.
Gregory Ellison (B), a Fund for
Theological Education doctoral fellow,
has had his stipend renewed lor a second
year of support. The stipend is given to
doctoral fellows who are entering their first
year of graduate study leading to the Ph.D.
orTh.D. in religion or theology.
Mary Haggard (B, E) is the new director
of youth ministries for St. Paul’s United
Methodist Church in Ocean Grove, New
Jersey. She also assumed leadership of the
Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association’s
summer youth program.
In October 2004, Mindy Huffstetler (B)
led a mission team of seven members
from the First Presbyterian Church in
Philadelphia, where she is associate pastor,
to Acuna, Mexico, one of the seven border
towns served by the National Presbyterian
Border Ministry, a joint mission of the
PCUSA and the National Presbyterian
Church of Mexico. The team spent a week
at Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life)
Church, the only National Presbyterian
Church congregation in a growing city of
more than 200,000. The team participated
in a construction project and visited with
families to share how both congregations
seek to embody the gospel and understand
the Reformed tradition in two very different
cultural contexts. “Both churches were
inspired by our diverse yet united
identity and calling in Jesus Christ,”
says Huffstetler. ▼
Yong Jonah So (B) was ordained and
installed on October 24 as an associate
pastor at the Korean Presbyterian Church
of Westchester in Pelham, New York. His
email address is jonah.so@gmail.com.
Jonathan Walton (B), currently
enrolled in the Seminary’s Ph.D. program,
has been awarded support from The Fund
for Theological Education, Inc. (FTE).
He is a doctoral fellow under the FTE’s
Expanding Horizons Partnership.
2003 Henry J. Hansen (B) is associ¬
ate pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
oi Ridgewood, New Jersey. His position
includes preaching, pastoral care, and taking
a leadership role with the church’s youth.
Andrew R. Hart (B), pastor ol Douglas
Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, South
Carolina, and members ol his congregation
collected 63 shoeboxes filled with gifts to
send to children overseas through Operation
Christmas Child, an annual project ol
Franklin Graham’s ministry, Samaritan’s
Purse, a worldwide outreach that serves
millions of children in more than 60 coun¬
tries. His wife, Laura (B), is interim associ¬
ate pastor at the First Presbyterian Church
in York, South Carolina. Their email address
is andylaurah@comporium.net.
Cathleen Jaworowski (B) was ordained
as minister of Word and Sacrament in the
Reformed Church in America (RCA) last
September at Central Reformed Church in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. She continues her
work as a hospital chaplain at Yuma Regional
Medical Center in Yuma, Arizona. Her email
address is cathleen.jaworowski@juno.com.
Courtney Mills Jones (E) was married
to Stephen William Willis on May 22, 2004,
in Wake Forest, North Carolina. PTS alums
participating in the wedding were Andy
Cooke ('04B), Amy Barlak Aspey
('04B), and Cara Taylor ('04B). Jones
is associate minister at West Hills Baptist
Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. ▼
Wolfram Kerner (M) completed his
Ph.D. studies at Heidelberg University
in Germany with a thesis on “Believer
Baptism, Infant Baptism, and Mutual
Baptismal Recognition.” He is teaching at
the University of Heidelberg in the field
of systematic theology. His email address
is wkerner@gmx.de.
Ryan D. Mills (B) is vicar
of Calvary Lutheran Church
in Ft. Worth, Texas. His email address
is ryanstmaurmills@hotmail.com.
Elisha James Taneti (M) teaches
at Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible
College in India. He and his wife, Mary,
have two children, Vismai and Vismitha.
He has compiled a bibliography for the
history ofTelugu Christians. His email
address is tjameselisha@yahoo.co.uk.
in Spire • 37
winter/spring 2005
Class notes
Shawn R. Zanicky (B) is pastor of
The Presbyterian Church of Dunmore
in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. He was
ordained on January 29, 2004. His email
address is pastorshawn@aol.com.
2 004 Amy C. Barlak (B) serves
part time as minister of small groups
at Trinity United Methodist Church
in Columbus, Ohio, and as the associate
director of Forum for Faith in the
Workplace, also in Columbus. Last June,
Barlak was commissioned as a probationary
deacon in the United Methodist Church.
Carmen Berger (B) is associate pastor
for youth at Kirkmont Presbyterian Church
in Beavercreek, Ohio. She was ordained on
September 26, 2004.
Jera Blomquist (B) works as the associate
director lor family ministries at University
Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington.
Tim Brown (B) is executive
minister of Bethlehem Baptist Church
in Penllyn, Pennsylvania.
Ebony Burris (B) is program officer and
assistant to the president of The Foundation
for Individual Rights in Education in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth Callender (B) is studying
for the Ph.D. in theology and the arts at
the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
April M. Davis Campbell (B)
was installed as associate pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater,
Minnesota. Her email address is
adcampbell@ipc-stillwater.org.
Bryce Carlisle (B) is a high school
Spanish teacher at Trinity Academy
in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Kelly Chripczuk (B) is an adjunct
instructor in the Biblical and Religious
Studies Department of Messiah College
in Grantham, Pennsylvania. Her email
address is kchripczuk@yahoo.com.
Andrew Cooke (B) is associate
pastor of Athens First Presbyterian Church
in Athens, Georgia.
Hilliard Dogbe (E) is pastor in charge
of Bishop Speaks A.M.E. Zion Church
in Accra, Ghana. He is also national director
of the Ghana Legacy Initiative, a nonprofit
organization with three foci: educational
enhancement of youth and schools develop¬
ment, adequate healthcare delivery, especially
for malaria and HIV-AIDS patients, and
economic empowerment of women.
Jenny Folmar (B) is associate minister
of youth at Johns Creek Baptist Church
in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Christopher Ethan Friddle (B) works
in the adult education program of United
Ministries in Greenville, South Carolina. His
wife, Christa McCain Friddle ('04B),
works with the Urban League of Upstate
South Carolina as a family service coordinator.
Cedric Johnson (B), a Fund for
T heological Education doctoral fellow, has
been awarded a stipend of up to $15,000
(renewable for one year). The stipend is
given to doctoral fellows who are entering
their first year of graduate study leading to
the Ph.D. orTh.D. in religion or theology.
Carla A. Jones (B) is assistant minister
at Bright Hope Baptist Church in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her email
address is bhbcrevsis@att.net.
Todd Kennedy (B) is public services
assistant at the Beinecke Rare Book and
Manuscript Library at Yale University.
Claire Morris (B) is associate pastor
of St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church
in Richardson, Texas.
Joel Pancoast (B) is enrolled
in the Master of Sacred Theology
program at Lutheran Seminary in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Loren Pankratz (B) is the college and
career pastor at New Covenant Community
Church in Fresno, California.
Brian Robinson (B) is pursuing a masters
degree in philosophy at the University of
Colorado in Boulder.
Matthew Schramm (B) is pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church of Sussex,
New Jersey.
Timothy Slemmons (D) is interim
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
in Titusville, New Jersey.
Jeannette Sorice (B) is enrolled in
a masters program in children’s literature at
Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Katie Sundermeier (B) is
director of pastoral care at Westminster
Presbyterian Church in West Chester,
Pennsylvania. Her email address is
ksundermeier@westminsterpc.org.
Rocky Supinger (B) is pastor
of St. Matthew Presbyterian Church
in Grandview, Missouri.
Audrey Thompson (M), a Fund for
Theological Education doctoral fellow, has
been awarded a stipend of up to $15,000
(renewable for one year). The stipend is
given to doctoral fellows who are entering
their first year of graduate study leading to
the Ph.D. orTh.D. in religion or theology.
Samantha Vincent (B) is currently doing
an Anglican year at Virginia Theological
Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.
Karen Webster (B) worked last summer
in Denali National Park and Preserve in
Alaska through A Christian Ministry in the
National Parks. She is currently a special stu¬
dent at Tubingen University in Germany.
38 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
investing in ministry
Point Guard for the Team
by Deadra Bachorik Ashton,
director of planned giving
On the last weekend of October, Gene
Degitz headed west on the Pennsylvania
Turnpike for one last trip between
Princeton Seminary and his home in
Ligonier, near the other end of the state,
a trip he had made so many times he
could do it in his sleep. In fact, there’s no
proof that he hadn’t done just that... at
least once! For his nine years on the
Seminary Relations staff, first as director
of development and then as vice president
of Seminary relations, Gene drove back
and forth across Pennsylvania in snow and
sleet, in the scorching heat, at all times of
day and night.
But on October 31 when he pulled away
from the campus, there was no return trip
scheduled. Gene left with a new title —
vice president for Seminary relations emer¬
itus — to begin his retirement and a new
phase of his life.
Those of us who worked closely with
Gene could easily imagine him on that
crisp autumn morning taking his all too
familiar place behind the wheel, the car
bulging with the tools of his daily routine
in the office and on the road: well-worn
books with paragraphs marked in yellow
highlighter, The New York Times , a can
of Pepsi, and, balanced on top of it all,
a “Game Ball’’ basketball autographed
by members of the Seminary Relations
Committee of the Board of Trustees.
When Gene said good-bye to the
Seminary Relations staff, he held up that
basketball as an illustration of the way we
do our work. “It’s a team effort,” he said.
“No one
can do it
alone. . .at
least not for
very long.
We have a
Gene Degitz with a prized retirement gift
common
goal, and we
all share the
responsibility lor reaching that goal. Each
of us needs to take the ball down the court
as far as we can, and then pass it to some¬
one else as soon as there’s an opening.
One person might look like a superstar for
making the slam dunk, but those points
would never have been scored without the
help of teammates.”
Chase Hunt, director of planned giving
emeritus and interim vice president for
Seminary relations until he retired for a
second time in June, smiled and nodded as
he listened to Gene. “Anyone who knows
Gene knows of his love of sports; the
Pirates, the Steelers,” he later observed.
“And he loves to play basketball, which
we all know is a team sport. That carried
over in his time here; Gene treated us as
a team... he had confidence in the people
he worked with to do our jobs. We all
appreciated that in him.”
Gene was good at what he did because
he put people first, whether he was serving
a church as pastor or a seminary as vice
president. He constantly reminded us that
the institution was there to serve the needs
of people, not vice versa. The team he
worked so hard to build was one that
served not the offering plate or the endow¬
ment, but people who are hungry for the
message of the gospel, who need a healing
touch, who yearn for a sense
of wholeness and peace.
In this section of every issue
of inSpire there is a list of
names of people who have
contributed to the life and
mission of Princeton Seminary.
During his tenure here Gene
carefully tended lists like these
because he knew that each name that
appears represents a person with a relation¬
ship to the Seminary community. It was
always the person and the relationship
that mattered most to him. These lists
were his team rosters.
Printing these lists is one of the ways we
in the Seminary Relations Department say
“thank you” to all of you for being part of
the team that enables Princeton Seminary
to prepare women and men to bear the
Good News of Christ to a broken world.
And we also add our thanks to Gene for
his tireless efforts to build this team. I
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The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City has established the Thomas K. Tewell Scholarship Endowment Fund in the
amount of $50,000 to fund a 1/3 scholarship to a second- or third-year Presbyterian student at Princeton Seminary who intends to serve in
congregational ministry.
With this gift, the congregation honors their pastor’s “ten extraordinary years of ministry” at the Fifth Avenue Church. Tewell is a 1973
PTS graduate and the new chair ol the Seminary’s Board ofTrustees.
inSpire • 39
winter/spring 2005
investing in ministry
Why Do I Devote Time and Resources to Princeton Theological Seminary
by Thomas R. Johnson
Over the years I have often asked myself,
“What am I doing to make a positive differ¬
ence on this planer? Is anything I do going to
make this world a better place?” Some days —
yes; other days- — probably nor. My “invest¬
ment” in Princeton Theological Seminary
probably has the best chance of making the
biggest dilference in years to come.
As a 35-year husband to my wife, father
of three, and grandfather of three more (so
far), I would like to think that I have already
made a difference for my family through my
constant love, support, and (hopefully) good
example most of the time.
As a practicing lawyer, I help people
every day. Often, my work involves protect¬
ing or regaining my clients' assets — money,
real estate, or reputation. This work is
challenging, interesting, and usually very
important to my client. The most personally
fulfilling legal work is often for individuals,
families, and charities, where my services
may determine a family's lifestyle, make it
possible for children to go to college, or
enable a deaf person to have an interpreter.
Helping 9/11 families with their compensa¬
tion claims without doubt made a big differ¬
ence in rheir lives.
However, in order ro help people in the
deepest and most significant ways, one must
leverage oneself so that the effort benefits not
only individuals, bur the human community
as a whole.
Princeton Seminary enables me to broad¬
en my reach tremendously. I believe in theo¬
logical education. I subscribe to the
Seminary’s mission to prepare men and
women to serve Jesus Christ in ministry and
teaching throughout the world. Our gradu¬
ates become leaders in local congregations,
in the greater church, in classrooms, and in
other settings worldwide. To serve and lead
effectively, seminary graduates need an excel¬
lent education in the fields of theology, his¬
tory, and biblical studies, and in the practical
application of the foregoing in the daily life
of congregations, schools, hospitals, prisons,
and communities. If each of our graduates
positively influences a few thousand people
in the course of her or his career, I take heart
in knowing that my contributions and the
work I do for the Seminary are being magni¬
fied many times and will continue to grow,
generation after generation.
I have no illusions that my Seminary
“investment” will lead directly to world
peace or to a planet free of crime, greed,
or avarice. But, I consider Princeton
Theological Seminary to be one of the
best vehicles for expanding and improving
theological education, and the influence
of the Christian faith throughout the world.
1 am particularly excited about the new
international outreach we will see during
President Torrance’s presidency.
For the past several years I have also
worked closely with the Association of
Theological Schools (ATS), the organization
that accredits and provides leadership educa¬
Tom Johnson
tion for seminaries and divinity schools
in the U.S. and Canada. ATS helps
Princeton Seminary and its sister schools
steadily improve theological education and
leadership training. I believe that my work
for ATS makes a difference at the end of
the day by helping the seminaries better
fulfill their mission.
Thus, I serve and contribute to
Princeton Seminary because I believe in its
mission, and desire, even in a small way,
to help it do the best job it can to prepare
women and men lor leadership in the church
and, thereby, deepen the Christian faith and
experience of people worldwide. The work is
fulfilling and gratifying, and among the most
important things I do in my life.
Selfishly, participating in the life of
the Seminary, even part time, deepens and
strengthens my own faith. And working with
wonderful fellow trustees and PTS personnel
makes it a pleasure along the way. I hope
you will join me in service to and support
ol Princeton Theological Seminary. I
Tom Johnson chairs the Seminary
Relations Committee of the Princeton
Seminary Board of Trustees and is a partner
in the law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart,
LLP in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The following gifts for faculty chairs were recently received by the Board of Trustees:
a $2 million gift from Joe R. Engle to establish a chair in homiletics in the name and memory of his parents.
Perry and Georgia Engle;
a gift of $1,226,000 from the estates of John and Ethel Leinhardt to establish a teaching position in the area
of Speech Communication in Ministry and the creation of a chair in their name in this field when the corpus
has grown to $2 million;
a gift commitment of $2 million from Rimmer and Ruth de Vries to establish in their name a chair in
Reformed theology and public life; the de Vries Chair is assigned to Max L. Stackhouse, and the Stephen
Colwell Chair, thus vacated, to Nancy J. Duff; and
the creation of a new chair from the Upson endowment to be designated the Maxwell M. Upson Chair in
Theology and Culture, assigned to Mark L. Taylor.
40 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
investing in ministry
Gifts
This list includes gifts made between
June 16, 2004, and November 15, 2004.
2004-2005 Annual Fund
Gifts in Memory of
Wilmer W. Bassett Jr.
James R. Blackwood (’45B/’46M)
John R. Booker (’55 B)
William S. Borden Jr.
Alfred F. Brady
Gloria B. Campbell
Howard H. Charles (’48M)
David L. Crawford (’47B)
Donald M. Davies (’40B/’44D)
Robert C. Davis (’78B/’84M)
Cay Dilworth
Edward A. Doweyjr. (’43B)
Charles R. Erdman (189 IB)
James L. Ewalt (’40B)
Alan J. Hagenbuch (’58B)
Harry Walter Haring (1893B)
Alice E. Heilshorn
W. Harvey Jenkins (’4 IB)
Edward J. Jurji (’42B)
Guy E. Lambert Jr. (’45B/’53M)
Bickford Lang (’48B)
William J. Larkin (’43B)
Louis Raymond Lechler (’47G)
Alan E. Lewis (’77D)
Jack M. MacLeod (’50b)
John G. Marvin (’36B)
Harlan H. Naylor (’42B)
H. Edwin Rosser (’45B)
John K. Sefcik (’53B/’68M)
Carlton J. Sieber (’4 IB)
R. David Steele (’55B)
Ralph A. Tamaccio (’5 IB)
Herbert C. Tweedie (’41M)
David W. Weaver (’3 IB)
Robert U. Whitney III
Shirley H. Whitney
In Honor/ Appreciation of
Sarah, Joel-Anthony, and Jacob Alleyne
Michael C. Baynai (’98B)
Jane T. Brady (’99B/’01M)
Fred W. Cassell (’54B)
JoAnne Cassell
Diane Jamison Fitch (’93B)
Charles Bryant Hardwick (’99B)
Judith Hartung Hockenberry (’86B)
Kenneth J. Hockenberry (’84B)
Clarice J. Martin
Kennedy M. McGowan (’89B)
Princeton Theological Seminary
hospitality at the Center
of Continuing Education
Princeton Theological Seminary inSpire
Iain R. and Morag Torrance
Kirianne Elizabeth Weaver (’01 B)
2004-2005 Alumni/ae Roll Call
In Memory of
T. Howard Akland (’40B)
James A. Allison Jr. (’5 IB)
Theodore S. Atkinson (’69B/’72M)
The Benham Club
Alfred F. Brady
Osmond P. Breland III (2000b)
J. Russell Butcher (’39B/’47M)
Robert W. Dickson (’51 B)
Charles K. Dowell (’53B)
Edward A. Dowey (’43B)
Jacqueline F. Dunnavan
Bruce W. Evans (’4 IB)
Joy L. Farris
Charles T. Fritsch (’35B)
Susan Hall Galloway (’66E)
Clarence Edward Getz (’24B/M)
William Franklin Graham
Clayton Tracy Griswold
Audrey Gruber
Bruce E. Haddad
Dorothy S. Haddad
Annie Henderson
Linda Lee Hofer (’7 IB)
G. Robert Jacks (’59B)
David Hugh Jones
Donald H. Juel
Edward J. Jurji (’42B)
Hugh Thomson Kerr Jr.
Bryant M. Kirkland (’38B)
Howard Tillman Kuist
James E. Loder (’57B)
Clarence Edward Noble
Macartney (1905B)
Gary W. Martin (’65B)
Fredrick McCain
James I. McCord
Nancy B. McGruther
Eleanor Williams Meisel
David D. Miles (’89B/’91M)
Alice Jane Mitchell
Joan Mullelly
Lacy Ould
George T. Peters (’40 B)
Robert W. Rayburn (’38B)
Mary Pollitt Scott
Craig M. Sell (’02B)
Ansley G. Van Dyke (’42B/’44M)
In Honor/Appreciation of
Diogenes Allen
Sarah, Joel-Anthony, and Jacob Alleyne
Richard S. Armstrong (’58B)
Sally A. Brown (’80G/01D)
Jack Cooper (’43B)
Kenda Creasy Dean (’97D)
Eugene P. Degitz (’60B)
F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp (’87B)
Harry A. Freebairn (’62B/’84P)
Freda Ann Gardner
Thomas W. Gillespie (’54B)
Edward Golden
Nancy Lammers Gross (’81B/’92D)
Geddes W. Hanson (’72D)
Robert W. Henderson Jr. (’88B)
Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger
J. Calvin K. Jackson (’53B)
Louise U. Johnson (’76B)
W. Stacy Johnson
James F. Kay
Cleophus J. LaRue ( 90B/’96D)
Sang Hyun Lee
Romaine MacDonald
Donald Macleod ( 46G)
Margaret Mauser
Ulrich W. Mauser
Bruce M. Metzger (’38B/’39M)
J. Randall Nichols (’67B/70D)
Ranee Niles
Richard R. Osmer
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary Class of
1949 55th Anniversary
Princeton Theological Seminary
Continuing Education Program
Princeton Theological Seminary Faculty
Princeton Theological Seminary 63rd
Annual Institute of Theology
Charles A. Ryerson III
Katharine Doob Sakenfeld
Choon-Leong Seow (’80B)
William M. Sparks (’63B)
John W. Stewart
Cullen I K Story (’64D)
Mark L. Taylor
Iain R. Torrance
inSpire • 41
winter/spring 2005
investing in ministry
Nicole and Andrew Young
“Financial aid during my years at PTS”
“Forty-four years in three pastorates
before retiring in 1992”
“The theological/biblical foundation
given to me"
2004-2005 Scholarship Fund
The Class of 1952 Scholarship Arthur H. Trois (’45B)
Endowment Fund _
In Honor/ Appreciation of
In Memory of Thomas W. Gillespie (’54B)
Shirley C. Guthrie (’52B) Nicole and Andrew Young
The Class of 1953 Scholarship The Lawder Scholarship
Endowment Fund Endowment Fund _
In Memory of
Thomas W. Apperson (’65M)
Alexander T. Coyle (’30B)
William Franklin Graham
Reuel E. Johnson (’48B)
Bryant M. Kirkland (’38B)
Barbara J. Minges
In Honor/Appreciation of
Deena L. Candler (’81 B)
Louise Josephson (’92B)
Linda A. Knieriemen (NOB)
Iain R. and Morag Torrance
Elaine L. Woroby (’86B)
“Good training and assistance from
scholarship funds”
The Buck Breland Memorial
Medical Emergency
Endowment Fund
In Memory of
Osmond P. Breland III (2000b)
Patricia Stirling (2000B)
In Honor/Appreciation of
W. J. Beeners (’48B)
The Class of 1970 Scholarship
Endowment Fund
In Memory of
J. Christiaan Beker
G. Robert Jacks (’59B)
James E. Loder (’57B)
In Honor/Appreciation of
Jack Cooper (’43B)
The Class of 1987 Scholarship
Endowment Fund
In Honor/ Appreciation of
F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp (’87B)
Iain R. Torrance
Faithful Practices Project
In Memory of
Carlton C. Allen (’36B)
William Franklin Graham
Clayton Tracy Griswold
Bernice Tanis Kirkland
Bryant M. Kirkland (’38B)
In Memory of
William E. Lawder
Miller Chapel Restoration Project
In Memory of
Joel Mattison (’54B)
The Presbyterian Church in
Morristown New Jersey-
Reverend Dr. Thomas S. Mutch
Scholarship Endowment Fund
In Memory of
Thomas S. Mutch
Princeton Theological Seminary
In Memory of
Scott Schuller
Speer Library Renovation Project
In Memory of
Susan Hall Galloway (’66E)
Josephine Wolslager
In Honor/ Appreciation of
Nicole and Andrew Young
Gifts to the following scholarship endowment funds, awards, and chairs have been gratefully received in
honor/appreciation of or in memory of those for whom they are named. Others who wish to donate to these
funds are welcome to do so, with our gratitude. For more information about these funds, please contact the
Seminary Relations Office at 609-497-7750 or by email at seminary.relations@ptsem.edu.
The William N. Boak (’57B) Scholarship Endowment Fund
The Reverend Dr. Lawrence A. Chamberlain (’65 B) Scholarship
Endowment Fund
The Reverend Dr. Frederick E. Christian (’34B) Scholarship
Endowment Fund
The David Livingstone Crawford (’47B) Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
The Reverend Dr. Samuel Allen (’32b) and Anne McMullan
Jackson Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund
The Reverend Dr. Gerald R. Johnson (’43B) Memorial Prize
The Barbara B. Kinsey Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund
The John S. and Mary B. Linen Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
The Mrs. Norma Macleod Memorial Scholarship
Endowment Fund
The C. Frederick (’57B) and Cleta R. Mathias Memorial Prize
The C. Frederick (’57B) and Cleta R. Mathias Memorial
Scholarship Endowment Fund
The Salvatore Migliore Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund
The Allan Rodgers Winn (’37B) Endowment for Student
Field Education
42 • inSpire
winter/spring 2005
In Memoriam
The Resurrection and
by Elizabeth Hein
Scott Adam Schuller died on August 11,
2004, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of compli¬
cations during heart surgery. He died just a few
weeks before he was to begin his second year as
a Master of Divinity student at Princeton
Seminary. Dr. Iain Torrance, just a few days
after he arrived on campus as Princeton’s new
president, and Dr. Kristin Saldine, minister of
the chapel, drove to Pittsburgh for Scott’s funer¬
al on August 14, and later led a service of wit¬
ness to the resurrection for the Seminary com¬
munity in Miller Chapel. inSpire asked
Elizabeth Hein, now a senior and one of Scott’s
many friends, to write her reflections on his life
and calling.
\
People say that the grief process is differ¬
ent for everyone, and I certainly believe that
to be true. And so I share these reflections as
part of my own story, not as an attempt to
say what Scott Schuller’s life and death
mean; no one of us can do that. Like many
of us, I feel like I have only just begun to
emerge from a fog that has hung heavily
since Scott’s death last August. And, standing
where I am, I can make sense of so little of
all that has happened.
And yet there have been some moments
when I’ve felt that I have been given some
clarity. In particular, two conversations from
the weekend of Scott’s memorial service
in October still stand out in my mind. The
first developed with a friend over coffee and
cookies following the service. The two ol
us were particularly sad to have lost a friend
who, like us, was unsure of his purpose at
PTS and of his calling in general. It can
be lonely, and frightening, to struggle with
direction in your twenties, and we could
always count on Scott’s unpredictability
to remind us that we were not alone in our
uncertainty. Scott had a great number of
gifts and interests, and his plans were always
changing accordingly. And yet, as we remem¬
bered, there was never despair mingled
with his indecision; he did not doubt that
he would find his place in the world.
the Life
Confidence
and hope, not
fear, seemed
to rule in
him, and we
missed his
presence dear¬
ly for that.
The next
morning, sitting in a pew at Nassau
Presbyterian Church with Scott’s mother,
I related the previous day’s conversation
to her. I thought she would be proud to
hear that her son had been a pillar, and
an inspiration, to his friends. However, her
perspective on Scott’s relationship to his
future was very different in tone than ours
had been. She told me that Scott considered
himself to be essentially a cynic, so much
so, in fact, that he didn’t think he could
work for the church unless circumstance
required it, because he was too critical.
I was strangely surprised.
Certainly mothers know their sons in
different ways than friends do, and certainly
one can be both a cynic and a visionary,
depending on the day. Nonetheless, after the
conversation, our variant perceptions were
striking to me. If I thought about it, I could
remember perceiving some cynicism in the
edge of some of his words, or in his laughter
at certain moments. But that act of remem¬
bering was difficult, and the image of Scott
it produced jarred with the one I was in
the habit of recalling. The Scotty I liked
to remember always had his door open and
music playing on 1st Alex. He brought joy
to more people than I ever thought possible
in so many different ways — as a familiar
face, a friend, a counselor, a teammate, an
adversary, a love interest, a barber, a student,
a teacher, a coworker and more.
He held the middler class together in
a very special way. He was unusual in his
ability to extend himself to those he didn’t
know, and to gather people together; I have
thought on more than one occasion that he
would have befriended the entire junior class
Scott Schuller alone on a hike, and with his Princeton
Seminary friends and classmates.
by this point in the year. He loved deeply
and lived fully. I missed him for those
things, and wished I could be more like him.
In retrospect, Scott’s mom’s perspective
did not deny the reality of Scott’s effusive
qualities. Rather, it shed light on the depth
that sometimes found expression in them,
and sometimes hid behind them. I imagine
that Scott, like all of us, wanted desperately
to be known and accepted and loved as he
was, even in his cynicism; wearing a sweat¬
shirt and those awful orange athletic shorts;
when his door wasn’t open or when he didn’t
answer it; when he gave bad advice, or gave
too much of it; when his intentionality was
irritating, or conspicuously absent; and when
he doubted his friends and doubted God.
When I began to remember him in all his
dimensions, I ached to have known him
better, and loved him more fully, and to
have him here among us again.
I know that we cannot all know each
other in the deepest recesses of our hearts.
But there is still something undeniably rich,
and grace-filled, about realizing that those
recesses exist in all of us, and, every so often,
in meeting someone in theirs. I
inSpire • 43
winter/spring 2005
^ In Memoriam
Blessed are the dead. . . who die in the Lord.
Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their
labors, for their deeds will follow them.
Revelation 14:13
1935: C. Donald Close, June 20,
2004, Topeka, Kansas
1937: Charles W. Arbuthnot, August
8, 2004, Brunswick, Maine
1939: J. Russell Butcher,
September 21, 2004,
Hagerstown, Maryland
1940: Donald M. Davies, June 15,
2004, Deland, Florida
George T. Peters, June 4, 2004,
Santa Barbara, California
1946: Peter James Bakker, August 5,
2004, Bremerton, Washington
1947: George W. Carson,
April 16, 2004,
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
1948: Orion C. Hopper, October 24,
2004, Holland, Pennsylvania
John William Ormond, June
28, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia
1949: Charles Tudor Leber Jr.,
November 4, 2004,
Whiting, New Jersey
1952: Shirley C. Guthrie,
October 23, 2004, Avondyle
Estates, Georgia
1953: Boyd F. Jordan, notified August
2004, Auburn, Kentucky
Frederick L. Keefe,
August 14, 2004,
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Ned E. Richardson,
notified August 2004,
Redding, California
1955: George Ross Mather,
September 30, 2004,
Fort Wayne, Indiana
1957: Donald A. Deppe, notified
August 2004, Goldsboro,
North Carolina
1958: Theodore A. Blunk, August 7,
2004, Bay Village, Ohio
1960: Manuel Rodriguez,
March 8, 2004, Albuquerque,
New Mexico
1964: Tiew Tawat Pantupong,
notified October 2004,
Bangkok, Thailand
Richard L. Turner,
June 11, 2004, Parkersburg,
West Virginia
1965: Robert Reichenbach, notified
October 2004, South River,
New Jersey
1968: Melvin Paul Alexander,
November 29, 2001,
Chiniak, Alaska
Robert W. Branin Jr.,
March 25, 2001,
DuBois, Pennsylvania
1969: Richard W. Kahlenberg, July 2,
2004, Ridgewood, New Jersey
1973: Robert Craig, May 5, 2004,
Rockledge, Florida
1974: V. Trent Davidson, May 18,
2004, Tucson, Arizona
1983: Everett T. Prudhomme,
April 10, 2004, Chippewa Bay,
New York
1984: Fe Roble Nebres, September 5,
2004, Wailuku, Hawaii
1989: Larry R. Broadright,
January 12, 2003, Durham,
North Carolina
1991: Ida M. Wooden, June 22,
2004, Wilmington, Delaware
1993: Rahel M. Liu, August 25,
2004, Tubingen, Germany
Scott A. Schuller, M.Div.
student, August 1 1, 2004,
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Howard John Marsh, visiting
scholar, September 17, 2004,
Salt Lake City, Utah
44 • inSpire
C 6nd things
winter/spring 2005
"Making at tile Table
by Ginny Thornburgh
rhe superb consultation “Making Room
at the Table: Opportunities in Theological
Education for People with Disabilities” (see
article on page 26) confirmed my belief that
Princeton Theological Seminary is commit¬
ted to being a place of welcome and hospi¬
tality lor people with disabilities and a place
of theological and practical education about
issues of disability.
As the mother of an adult son with
mental retardation, I am aware that most
religious leaders have had little opportunity
during their seminary education to appreci¬
ate that my son, Peter, is a thoroughly
enjoyable faith-filled man who brings an
array of talents to his church. I also know,
however, that several ministers and Christian
educators have been moved by Peter’s ener¬
getic witness and have taken the time to get
to know his unique gifts and needs. They
have offered him leadership responsibilities
such as filling the water glass ar the pulpit,
straightening the pew racks after services,
being a shepherd in the Christmas pageant,
laying out one-by-one the refreshment cups
which are later filled with juice, and greeting
folks at the door as they arrive.
What motivated these religious leaders?
Did their seminary training help them learn
how to accommodate someone like Peter, or
did they figure it out on their own? In addi¬
tion, how did they come to internalize the
understanding that Peter is a valid reflection
of the Almighty who has a right to a full life
of faith?
Questions abound as I think about the
possible impact of the “Making Room at the
Table” consultation on the PTS community:
• How do we infuse our PTS curriculum
with information, insight, and hands-on
experiences so that people with disabilities
are perceived as an addition to any church or
seminary rather than an obligation or
a “problem to be solved”?
• How do we develop a sound and useful
theology that does not regard Peter’s disabili¬
ty or any disability as a sign of sin or of
inadequate faith?
• At PTS, how do we present disability
as part of the fabric of life that can come to
any one of us at any time and can be best
accommodated by the gift of friendship?
• How do we encourage PTS faculty,
staff, and students to confront rather than
avoid tough spiritual, social justice, and
ethical issues surrounding disabilities, such
as abortion and assisted suicide?
• How do we engage the entire Seminary
community so that recruiting qualified stu¬
dents with disabilities becomes as important
as recruiting qualified students on the basis
of gender or of race?
• How do we nurture a culture within
PTS that honors and addresses concerns
raised by someone with disability rather
then regarding that person as a nuisance
or troublemaker?
• In short, how do we make befriending
and accommodating people with disabilities
a priority at PTS and in the church universal?
We are blessed at Princeton Seminary
to have a new president, Dr. Iain Torrance,
for whom disability issues are deeply impor¬
tant. We must join with him and work
in a deliberate way to transform the academ¬
ic experience, culture, and internship oppor¬
tunities available at the Seminary so that
our graduates are confident in their ability
to serve and to serve with children and
adults with physical, sensory, psychiatric,
and intellectual disabilities in their congrega¬
tions and communities.
Peter’s church has accepted our son and
sees him as an able and contributing mem¬
ber. This spring, following weeks of one-on-
one meetings with his pastor, Peter was con¬
firmed — a day of joy for his family and his
church. Peter delivered his confession of
faith while his teary-eyed parents looked on
with pride and awe: “My name is Peter
Thornburgh. I am happy in my church.
I am happy to have Jesus in my heart.”
It is my hope that PTS graduates will
find joy in ministering to and with Peter and
his many colleagues, young and old, with a
wide variety of disabilities. Peter Thornburgh
is absolutely sure that he is loved by Jesus
and loved by God. I believe we in the
Seminary community and in the churches
of this nation have a lot to learn from his
profoundly uncluttered fairh. I
Ginny Thornburgh is the director of the
Religion and Disability Program of the
National Organization on Disability in
Washington, D. C. She is a member of the
Princeton Seminary Board of Trustees.
inSpire
Art Exhibit
September 12 through October 21
Dallas Piotrowski "Birds"
Erdman Art Gallery, Erdman Hall
K
Opening Convocation
for the Academic Year
Tuesday, September 13
President lain R. Torrance, speaker
8:00 p.m., Miller Chapel
Princeton Seminar Weekends
for Prospective Students
September 29-October 2,
October 13-16, November 17-20,
and December 1-4
Call 800-622-6767, ext. 1940, or
email vocations@ptsem.edu for
more information.
Stone Lectures
Monday, October 3 through
Thursday, October 6
Dr. Leander E. Keck, Winkley Professor
of Biblical Theology Emeritus atYale
University Divinity School in New
Haven, Connecticut
Lecture I: 7:00 p.m.,
Monday, October 3
Lecture II: 1:15 p.m.,
Tuesday, October 4
Lecture III: 7:00 p.m.,
Tuesday, October 4
Lecture IV: 7:00 p.m.,
Wednesday, October 5
Lecture V: 1:15 p.m.,
Thursday, October 6
Main Lounge, Mackay Campus Center
Concert
Saturday, October 8
Joe R. Engle Organ Concert
featuring Diane Bish, organist, and
PTS's Cantate Domino Choir
8:00 p.m., Miller Chapel
Art Exhibit
November 1 through December 9
Elaine Chong "Inlet"
Erdman Art Gallery, Erdman Hall
The Frederick Neumann
Memorial Lecture
Wednesday, November 16
Dr. John de Gruchy, professor of
Christian studies and fellow at the
University of Cape Town, South Africa
7:00 p.m.. Main Lounge, Mackay
Campus Center
For more information about these events, visit www.ptsem.edu or contact the Office of Communications/Publications at 800-622-6767,
ext. 7760 or commpub@ptsem.edu.
inSpire
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